Erik ten Hag looks set to become the next permanent manager of Manchester United, and has reportedly told Richard Arnold and co on the Red Devils board that he would like Chelsea target Aurelien Tchouameni as his first transfer signing in a major rebuild of the squad.
football.london reported in January that Chelsea have spent more time keeping an eye on the 22-year-old than any other club. The Monaco star has just over two years remaining on his contract at Stade Louis II and is being strongly linked with an exit in the summer. Real Madrid with their ageing midfield are highly interested in the Nations League winner whilst the Blues are in for Monaco's No.8 for the same reason.
Chelsea currently have N'Golo Kante and Jorginho, who are 31 and 30 respectively, whose futures at the club are uncertain. The Blues duo both see their contracts at Stamford Bridge expire at the end of next season and could look to move away from west London in the upcoming summer transfer window. Therefore it's no wonder that both Tchouameni and West Ham star Declan Rice top Thomas Tuchel's wish list for the new owners to fulfil in their first transfer window in charge since the Roman Abramovich era came to an end after the sanctioning.
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There has always been talk of more Premier League interest from the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool but it seems as though another rival will push the current European and World Champions to the limit in this transfer race. Man United, who seem destined to have Ajax's head coach in charge come the start of 2022/23, is apparently already looking to make some big decisions for the next campaign with Cristiano Ronaldo seemingly not in his plans, as per recent reports.
Another area of concern for United to rectify straight away is the central defensive midfield area with Nemanja Matic unable to complete a full 90 minutes for the majority of this term. Scott McTominay and Fred are not natural defensive midfielders whilst loanee James Garner may not be ready in his development to be chucked into the fold next season. Therefore, a new defensively minded midfielder is high on the demand list amongst the United faithful and it seems their board and the soon to be new manager Ten Hag have one name in particular high on their wish list.
According to ESPN, the Dutch manager is very keen on the France international to be one of his first signings in his new project at Old Trafford as Ten Hag could really shuffle the pack in his first summer transfer window in charge. Whoever was to win this transfer race would have to pay a reported £83million for Paul Pogba's good friend, with current manager Niko Kovac informing interested clubs of the 'progress' the midfielder has made during 2021/22.
"He's a player who has made great progress," the former Bayern Munich manager said via talkSPORT. "He listens a lot to what is said to him and wants to learn and improve with each training session. He's a very humble person.
"He uses each video session to learn more every day, to find out what was good and what was not good. Today he's a France international but I think he needs to keep it as it is - simple. Everyone shines the spotlight on him but I think he has to keep it simple, so as not to get lost and do more than what is asked of him. For me, he is already the best midfielder in Ligue 1 today."
Chelsea fans- Would Aurelien Tchouameni be a sufficient long-term replacement for N'Golo Kante if the Blues were to beat Man United and Real Madrid to his signature this summer? Leave your thoughts in the comments section!
