At the time of writing, Aurélien Tchouaméni’s €100m move from Ligue 1’s third-placed finishers Monaco to La Liga winners and newly-crowned champions of Europe Real Madrid is the most expensive transfer of the 2022/23 summer window so far. The Monaco man was highly sought-after, with Real’s Champions League Final opponents, Liverpool also reported to have been in the hunt for Tchouaméni’s signature earlier this summer. Tchouaméni’s popularity this summer won’t have come as a surprise to many people, as the midfielder was tipped by many to be one of the hottest prospects in France’s top flight, especially following a stellar campaign in which he played a crucial role in Monaco’s UEFA Champions League qualification (pending a qualification playoff game).
Tchouaméni’s departure, along with that of Cesc Fàbregas who didn’t feature much for Les Monégasques in the last term but nevertheless was on their wage bill for the campaign, and the permanent departure of Jean-Eudes Aholou to Strasbourg after the midfielder spent the last two seasons on loan at Stade de la Meinau all points to the necessity of a midfield revamp at Stade Louis II, with replacing the significant contribution of Tchouaméni sure to be top of the Monaco hierarchy’s to-do list.
In this tactical analysis piece, I aim to highlight some potential solutions for Monaco from players who were plying their trade in Ligue 1 last term, to show the kind of profile(s) I think they should consider and offer some actual names that they should, perhaps, consider. This piece won’t go into great detail in terms of analysing each individual option, rather is targeted at finding some initial options based on what I think Monaco broadly need to replace in their team. This analysis will take two potential formations into account, the 4-2-3-1 that Monaco used last season and the 4-3-3, which Monaco boss Philippe Clement has used most often during his career and thus could be ideal for his preferred tactics. In any event, whether it’s via adding one or two players to the team, my aim for this analysis is to find somewhat realistic ways in which Monaco could look to achieve the near-impossible task of replacing Tchouaméni, as they look to push on from their impressive 2021/22 season and perhaps go deep into Europe next term. All stats and data used in this scout report come from Wyscout unless stated otherwise.
Tchouaméni’s role at Monaco
Before looking at potential options for replacing Tchouaméni, the first step in our analysis will be to explore/remind you of what the Frenchman’s role actually was in the team. Monaco primarily utilised a 4-2-3-1 last season, with Tchouaméni and Youssouf Fofana operating in the double-pivot.
As the heatmap above indicates, Tchouaméni is a very active midfielder who gets around the pitch quite a bit, heavily covering much of the area between the two boxes. However, he primarily operated on the left of the double-pivot, with Fofana playing to his right. Tchouaméni was comfortable in this position.
The new Real Madrid man is incredibly well-rounded. Last season, among Ligue 1 central midfielders to play at least 700 minutes — the criteria we used to compare and contrast all midfielders mentioned in this analysis and to assess Monaco’s potential options in the summer transfer market — he ranked in the 93rd percentile for interceptions per 90 (6.07), the 88th percentile for aerial duels per 90 (3.76), the 94th percentile for aerial duel success (64.42%), the 82nd percentile for passes per 90 (56.64), the 86th percentile for progressive passes per 90 (8.3), the 90th percentile for progressive pass success (83.97%) and, lastly, the 90th percentile for through passes per 90 (1.73).
