Two weeks ago the story at Valdebebas was that Aurélien Tchouaméni had won the argument. A new manager, a new midfield, and the Frenchman installed as the anchor everything else would be built around. On Saturday night at Cornellà, Real Madrid opened LaLiga without him — he is recovering from an injury — and José Mourinho sent out Bernardo Silva alongside Fede Valverde instead. Real Madrid won 1-2. The midfield did not look like it was missing anybody.
That is the uncomfortable subtext of a report carried by Madrid Universal on Sunday, drawing on Cadena SER: Aurélien Tchouaméni may no longer be guaranteed his place in Real Madrid’s midfield under Mourinho, with competition in the department sharpening since Bernardo Silva’s arrival.
Why Tchouaméni’s grip has loosened
The clearest version of the argument came from journalist Tomás Roncero. “I think Tchouameni is not going to be as untouchable as he was,” he said, as reported by Madrid Universal, and his reasoning was not about the Frenchman’s level so much as about who else is now in the building. Roncero sees Bernardo Silva playing a major role in this midfield, particularly against opponents who defend deep at the Bernabéu, and describes the Portuguese as Madrid’s most creative option for directing possession from a deeper starting point.
The Rodri context is doing a lot of work here. “With Rodri not arriving, the only player who can really play that positional football and organise the game is Bernardo Silva,” Roncero argued. Real Madrid wanted the Spaniard, the Spaniard chose Barcelona, and the club has spent the weeks since insisting it does not need a replacement. Years under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City are, as far as Roncero is concerned, the least Madrid can now ask Silva to draw on.
Mourinho’s real puzzle
The squeeze on Tchouaméni is a knock-on effect of a decision taken further forward. As MARCA reported and Madrid Universal carried, Mourinho has concluded that Jude Bellingham’s best position is behind the forwards as a link man — the same freedom that made him unplayable at the World Cup — and that using him as a 6 or an 8 strips away his output. We covered that call when Mourinho settled the Bellingham question, and Bellingham duly opened the scoring at Espanyol.
Free Bellingham high and somebody behind him has to do the unglamorous work. Mourinho has four candidates for two shirts — Valverde, Bernardo Silva, Tchouaméni and Eduardo Camavinga — and no settled pairing among them. He has also floated Arda Güler as a future No.6, which is a 2028 answer to a 2026 question, and one that has already drawn public pushback. On DAZN, former Real Madrid midfielder Guti challenged the logic directly: “I don’t understand Mourinho’s argument. If Jude Bellingham can’t be moved to the 6 or the 8 because he loses some of his attacking qualities, then the same logic should apply to Arda Güler.”
The case for the defence
None of which means Tchouaméni has been demoted. He was injured, not dropped, and the evidence against him amounts to one August evening in which a fresh signing played well in his position. He remains the most naturally defensive midfielder at the club and the only one of the four who is a specialist rather than a converted something-else. We wrote at the start of the month that Tchouaméni had won Mourinho’s trust as the anchor, and a manager who spent his summer praising the squad’s balance is unlikely to have torn that up over 90 minutes.
But untouchable is a strong word, and it was always going to be the first casualty of a squad this deep. Tchouaméni left the summer as the man in possession of the shirt. He returns from injury to a competition he was not in two weeks ago — and to a manager who has never been sentimental about who starts.
