The majority of the summer transfer window was dominated by rumours speculating whether or not Liverpool would sign a new midfielder.
In the end, Arthur Melo was signed on loan from Juventus on deadline day. However, that deal seemingly only occurred due to a mini injury crisis in midfield which prompted the club to take action.
Earlier in the window, one player who was of interest to Liverpool was Aurelien Tchouameni. Having impressed at Monaco, the midfielder on the radar of the Reds this summer.
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However, he ended up moving to Real Madrid in a deal worth €100million (£87.5m). This led to Liverpool not dipping into the market for a permanent alternative, instead leaving until deadline day to sign Arthur on loan.
With Tchouameni now a Real Madrid player, it’s worth looking at how well he’s been doing since his big-money move to the Spanish capital. But before the 22-year-old made the move to Madrid, Ancelotti fired a stark warning to Liverpool with his comments after the Champions League final.
The Reds lost 1-0 in Paris back in May, thanks to a goal from Vinicius Jr. Ancelotti claimed that he felt it was easier to prepare to face Liverpool than other opponents in the competition.
“Looking back, people said Paris Saint-Germain were unlucky, Chelsea were unlucky, Manchester City were unlucky,” Ancelotti said. “This was practically the only game where people thought we were more or less on the same level.
“I think it helped that Liverpool were easier to decipher than the others, because they have a very clear identity and we could prepare the way that we did. We knew what strategy to take — don’t give them space behind the defence to run into.”
“Perhaps our football wasn’t extraordinarily beautiful on an aesthetic level, but playing out from the back to incentivise their pressing wasn’t a great idea,” Ancelotti added. “We had a few more long balls, then we got to control the ball more, especially in the second half.”
After losing to Madrid in the final, being beaten to the signing of Tchouameni a few weeks later would certainly not have felt good for Liverpool. And looking at the player’s start to life in Spain, it’s easy to understand why,
Since moving to Madrid, Tchouameni has made six appearances for the Spanish giants. Four of those have come in La Liga, where Madrid sit top of the table with a 100 percent winning record.
In the Champions League, too, Tchouameni already seems to be a key player for Madrid. He started in the 3-0 win over Celtic and played a key role in the victory.
Since Casemiro’s £60m move to Manchester United, Tchouameni has seemingly taken over as the senior defensive midfielder in the Madrid team. Liverpool have plenty of time to turn their stuttering season around - but solving their midfield issues and becoming less 'easy to decipher' will have to happen sooner rather than later.
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