Kylian Mbappe completing a transfer to Real Madrid this summer could perhaps offer a surprise opportunity to Liverpool, according to Neil Jones in his exclusive column for CaughtOffside.
The Reds writer does not hold out too much hope of the club getting another chance to sign French midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni, and can only see it happening if Madrid need to free up funds to pursue Mbappe.
Mbappe’s future is dominating headlines at the moment, and it’s not clear if Real could definitely afford to spend big money on him now when there remains the possibility of swooping for him on a free in a year’s time.
It could be interesting to watch, however, if Los Blancos do end up coming under pressure to sell someone like Tchouameni, who Jones says was a top target for Liverpool for some time.
The 23-year-old has perhaps not quite been at his best since moving to the Bernabeu, so could he be one they’d consider letting go for the right price?
“It was twelve months ago that Liverpool worked really hard on trying to get Tchouameni from Monaco,” Jones said.
“He was identified as the priority to come in and play alongside Fabinho to begin with, and then eventually succeed him. I think Liverpool felt they had a good chance of persuading the player to join, but then Real Madrid came in and once they were there and ready to make the move, Liverpool lost out.
“I think that was a real disappointment for Liverpool in terms of their planning. They put all their eggs into that basket really, and if you look at what happened last season, and how the last twelve months have played out, they didn’t sign anyone else in that ilk and they did end up being a bit short of quality in terms of reliable midfield players, and it came back to haunt them with a below-par campaign overall.
“The question now, in terms of Liverpool ever being able to revive this deal, is would Real Madrid be willing to let him go? There’s been some speculation after he played perhaps a bit less than he would’ve liked in the second half of last season, but you can see with signings like Tchouameni, as well as Eduardo Camavinga and Jude Bellingham, that Real Madrid are really assembling a good young core of players … I think Tchouameni is going to be a big part of that.
“I’m sure Liverpool would like to have that chance to revive their interest, but I can’t see Real giving them the chance to do so – unless they really decide to go strongly for Kylian Mbappe this summer and they need to free up some funds.”