Aurélien Djani Tchouaméni (; born 27 January 2000) is a French professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

or a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

club

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

and the France national team. He is regarded as one of the best defensive midfielders in the world.

Early life

Tchouaméni was born in

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...

, Normandy, and grew up in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

, Gironde. He is of Cameroonian descent. His father was born in Nsamba and his mother in Bafang. He acquired French nationality on 19 December 2000 through the collective effect of his parents'

naturalization Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

Club career

Bordeaux

Tchouaméni made his first team debut for

in a 1–0

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

away win to Latvian side

Ventspils Ventspils () is a state city in northwestern Latvia in the historical Courland region of Latvia, and is the sixth largest city in the country. At the beginning of 2020, Ventspils had a population of 33,906. It is situated on the Venta River and ...

in the second qualifying round on 26 July 2018, starting the match and playing 89 minutes. He scored his first goal of his senior club career on 9 August, netting the final goal in Bordeaux's 3–1 Europa League away victory over

Mariupol Mariupol is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is situated on the northern coast (Pryazovia) of the Sea of Azov, at the mouth of the Kalmius, Kalmius River. Prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it was the tenth-largest city in the coun ...

Monaco

On 29 January 2020, Tchouaméni signed a four-and-a-half-year deal with

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

side

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

. After about a year playing for the club, he registered his first league goal, netting the second goal in a 3–1 win against

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

on 23 January 2021. On 14 May 2022, he delivered an assist for his captain Wissam Ben Yedder and, thus, participated in the ninth win in a row for his side.

Real Madrid

On 11 June 2022, it was announced that Tchouaméni would be transferred to

side

on 1 July 2022, signing a six-year contract with the club. The transfer fee was reported to be €80 million, which could rise to €100 million due to additional fees. He made his official debut for the club on 10 August, coming on as a late substitute in a 2–0 win over

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a German professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The club currently plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German footb ...

in the

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup Association football, football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions: the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's offic ...

to win his first career club trophy. On 30 September 2023, Tchouaméni scored his first goal for ''Los Blancos'', netting a header in Madrid's 3–0 league away win over

Girona Girona (; ) is the capital city of the Province of Girona in the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 106,476 in 2024, but the p ...

International career

On 26 August 2021, Tchouaméni received his first call up to the

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

senior squad. On 1 September, he made his international debut in a 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying game against

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

replacing

Thomas Lemar Thomas Benoît Lemar (born 12 November 1995) is a French professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Atlético Madrid. He is known for his versatility, being able to play on both wings and through the centre. Lemar began his sen ...

in the 46th minute. On 25 March 2022, Tchouaméni scored his first goal for the national team in a friendly against

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

. In November 2022, Tchouaméni was named in France's squad for the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

. On 10 December, he scored his first World Cup goal in a 2–1 victory over

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in the quarter-finals. On 18 December 2022, Tchouaméni started in the

2022 FIFA World Cup Final The 2022 FIFA World Cup final was the final match of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the 22nd edition of FIFA's competition for men's national football teams. The match was played at Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar, on 18 December 2022, the Qatari ...

. He was one of two French players to miss in the

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

as France lost to

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

at the

Lusail Stadium Lusail Stadium (, ) is a Stadium, football stadium in Lusail, Qatar. Owned by the Qatar Football Association, it is the largest stadium in Qatar and the Middle East by capacity; one of eight stadiums built for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, it hosted ...

, Qatar.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''France score listed first, score column indicates score after each Tchouaméni goal''

Honours

Monaco *

Coupe de France The Coupe de France (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...

runner-up: 2020–21 Real Madrid *

: 2023–24 *

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

: 2022–23 *

Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España, also known as the Spanish Super Cup, is a super cup tournament in Football in Spain, Spanish football. Founded in 1982 Supercopa de España, 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2 ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

: 2023–24 *

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup (FIFA CWC) is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (FIFA), the sport's global sports governing body, governing body. The compe ...

FIFA Intercontinental Cup The FIFA Intercontinental Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by FIFA, the sport's global sports governing body, governing body. The first edition took place in 2024 FIFA Intercontinental Cup, 2024. The co ...

France *

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is an international European football competition played by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The competition was devised to minimise friendlies a ...

: 2020–21; third place: 2024–25 *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

runner-up:

Individual * Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year: 2020–21 * Ligue 1 UNFP Team of the Year: 2020–21, 2021–22

References

External links

Profile
at the Real Madrid CF website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tchouameni, Aurelien 2000 births Living people Footballers from Rouen French men's footballers Men's association football midfielders FC Girondins de Bordeaux players AS Monaco FC players Real Madrid CF players Championnat National 3 players Ligue 1 players La Liga players UEFA Champions League–winning players France men's youth international footballers France men's under-21 international footballers France men's international footballers 2022 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2024 players UEFA Nations League–winning players French expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Monaco French expatriate sportspeople in Monaco Expatriate men's footballers in Spain French expatriate sportspeople in Spain French sportspeople of Cameroonian descent Naturalized citizens of France 21st-century French sportsmen