Every time a match ends, Aurélien Tchouaméni, who is called ‘Air’ by his teammates, phones his father and discusses his performance in the game. Fernand was an amateur footballer and pursued for years a contract to build a professional careerbut could not get it and ended up becoming a reputable pharmacist who ran a vaccine production plant.
Aurélien learned from him that dreams don’t always come true, that’s why the Frenchman is intensely enjoying his arrival at Real Madrid, “where I learn from legends like Modric and Kroos”. A blessing for him and a reference for his father, who always pushes him to improve by looking at them.
knowing how to suffer
Tchouaméni, surname of Cameroonian origin, where his paternal family comes from, began playing at the academy in his neighborhood, SJ Artigues. There he stood out for his personality in the field until, at the age of 11, Bordeaux recruited him for his schools and left behind the place where he had spent his happy childhood. In his early years he suffered injuries and did not finish adapting to the team.
Parallel to his move to Bordeaux, his parents moved to Lyon and that made Tchoauméni feel alone and out of place. He had no place of reference and no one nearby to share it with.
?️ @atchouameni: “#The classic It’s the biggest game in the world.” pic.twitter.com/TgzfwrQDed
– Real Madrid CF (@realmadrid) October 14, 2022
Aurélien overcame these initial difficulties and began to stand out through hard work and boundless ambition. In his head he has in mind the example of his father, who gave everything and could not fulfill his dream of being a footballer. In those early years he played more advancedbut his charisma caused his coaches to portray him to have more weight in the game.
In 2018 he joined the Girondis first team together with his friend Jules Koundé. He added 37 games in two seasons and the summer of 2020 he was transferred to Monaco, where he spent three years, exploding in the secondin which he became the reference in the core of the team, in addition to appearing in the calls for the French team.
There he got into the habit of keeping a notebook where he writes down the advice and important corrections he receives. This “extreme competitor”, as Koundé defined him, received a call in 2021 from Jonathan Kebe, the founder of Excellence Sport Nation (ESN), the agency that represents him, informing him of the interest of the real Madrid.
He had just made his debut with France and there was persistent talk of PSG’s intention to sign him. But the day Kebe told Aurélien and his father about the possibility of wearing white, the player was clear: “If there is only one possibility, I will fight for it”. His agent revealed it months after the midfielder signed for the whites in the summer of 2022, ruling out a PSG that came to improve the astronomical Madrid offer: 80 million fixed plus 20 in variables.
The determination to close his signing increased when, after winning the 14th Champions League in Paris, Casemiro confessed to the club that his cycle at the Bernabéu had ended. Days later ‘Air’ became a white player. Today, Tchouaméni is indisputable keeping his back to Modric and Kroos.
For another former Madrid player like Varane, his growth explains it “His maturity, that’s the key word. He is calm in everything he does, he knows where he wants to go. He is ambitious, but with his head on his shoulders and that allows him to express all the qualities of him & rdquor;. Judgment seconded by Olivier Giroud: “For his young age, he exudes a certain maturity in the game, in his way of being as well. He can become a leader, not only on the field, but also outside & rdquor ;.
neurovision
The degree of demand in Tchouaméni’s work has led him to rely on neuroscience thanks to the mediation of his physiotherapist, Fabrice Gautierwho put the Real Madrid player and Koundé in contact with neurovision coach Ash Parker, who works with them “to improve the perception of the information that reaches the soccer player through the senses. To process stimuli faster and better”. Decisive quality as a midfielder where he is obliged to develop his peripheral vision in the attack front.
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That same demand led him to learn English in months to enjoy the music he likes and NBA broadcasts, another of his passions. Now he teaches three Spanish classes a week to understand everything that surrounds him in Madrid, on and off the pitch. Ancelotti is determined that he steps on more area and he has talent for it because he started playing up front.
But his sense of responsibility makes him not take too much joy no matter how much Carletto incites him by giving him the example of Casemiro. “He is a boy who has the quality to accelerate and reach the goal. We must take advantage of that & rdquor;warns the Italian, who molds this new white cyclops that many compare to Pogba, although he looks more like a hybrid between Vieira and Kanté.