Tchouaméni says he picked Madrid despite talk with Mbappé

Aurélien Tchouaméni said nothing steered him away from fulfilling his dream of playing for Real Madrid. Not even a chat with Kylian Mbappé.

The promising France midfielder made his move to Madrid official on Tuesday, saying he had no doubts about where he wanted to play despite having offers from other clubs and discussing a possible transfer to Paris Saint-Germain with Mbappé, who recently decided to stay with the French club after showing interest in playing for Madrid.

“Kylian stayed with PSG and he knew I was leaving Monaco, so he wanted to know if I could go to PSG,” Tchouaméni said as he was officially introduced by Madrid. “But I told him that my first option was always Real Madrid and he understood it perfectly.”

The 22-year-old Tchouaméni signed a six-year contract with Madrid. He joined from Monaco on a reported fee of up to 100 million euros ($104