Liverpool in contact to sign Real Madrid star who rejected a move to Anfield - report

Liverpool have opened discussions with Real Madrid to sign Aurelien Tchouameni in a sensational January swoop, according to Sacho Tavolieri.

The Sky Sports journalist reported on Monday [3 November], that Madrid no longer views the Frenchman as a long-term successor to Toni Kroos and are now willing to sanction his sale as early as January.

Tchouameni famously rejected a move to Anfield in 2022, deciding to move to Spain however, after one Champions League and one La Liga title, it seems his time at Madrid is over.

Liverpool must do everything to sign Aurelien Tchouameni

Ryan Gravenberch has been a revelation for Liverpool this season under Arne Slot. However, despite his commanding performances in midfield, there is still a sinking feeling that the side is missing one more piece to the puzzle.

Tchouameni began a string of rejections for the Reds, Jude Bellingham also chose to become a Galactico over a move to Merseyside and Martin Zubiemendi pulled the plug on his move this summer to commit his future to Real Sociedad.

When Fabinho left for Saudi Arabia, he left a void in the Liverpool midfield yet to be filled and players with the quality of Tchouameni do not come around too often.

The 24-year-old is still yet to reach his peak, can operate both as the anchor of the midfield or further forward in a box-to-box role and would provide top-quality competition to the established trio of Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister, and Dominik Szoboszlai.

Mac Allister has proven to be the decisive factor in the midfield this season and he could displace Szoboszlai as the number 10 in Slot's system allowing a deep-lying pivot of Tchouameni and Gravenberch to reach havoc on the opposition.

Liverpool claimed the club never sought an alternative for Zubimendi due to the lack of world-class options and now arguably one of the best midfielders in Europe is available at a cut-price fee of £51m.

The Reds have no excuse for not throwing all their chips on the table with Tchouameni and providing Slot the top-quality defensive midfielder he needs to complete his side.

In other Liverpool news, here's how the Reds are expected to line up to face Bayer Leverkusen.

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