Prior to now few seasons, Aurelien Tchouameni has turn into an important participant for Actual Madrid since becoming a member of the membership in 2022.
The deal to signal the Frenchman from AS Monaco included a set payment of €80 million, together with an extra €20 million in potential variables.
Nonetheless, what many could not know is that Barcelona intently monitored Tchouameni throughout his early years, notably throughout his time in Monaco.
Regardless of this curiosity, the Catalan membership finally determined to not pursue him, primarily based on a scouting report ready by Bojan Krkic senior, the daddy of former Barcelona ahead Bojan Krkic junior.
Why did Barcelona reject him?
On the time, Bojan Krkic Sr. held a major position inside Barcelona’s scouting division, the place he spent a decade evaluating gamers earlier than leaving his place on the finish of 2020.
Reflecting on his evaluation of Tchouameni, Bojan senior shared that he had attended two or three of the younger midfielder’s video games, together with matches towards outstanding groups like Paris Saint-Germain and Marseille.
“I went to see him two or 3 times, towards PSG and Marseille,” revealed the previous scout as quoted by Mundo Deportivo.
Aurelien Tchouameni lacked the creativity required to play for Barcelona. (Picture by Ethan Miller/Getty Pictures)
His observations targeted on each the strengths and weaknesses of the participant, which finally formed his suggestion to Barcelona.
In accordance with Bojan Sr., Tchouameni exhibited notable qualities similar to bodily energy, power, and an aggressive strategy to marking.
These attributes made him a strong presence in midfield. Nonetheless, he additionally famous what he believed was a vital flaw—an absence of creativity.
“In my stories, I at all times put the identical factor: he has energy, power, aggressiveness in marking, even extreme, however creativity; little,” he famous.
This perceived deficiency led him to conclude that Tchouameni may not match the profile of a participant suited to a membership of Barcelona’s calibre. Based mostly on this evaluation, he determined towards recommending the signing of the Frenchman.
This scouting report was archived at Barcelona, like all evaluations performed by the division. “He was not for an enormous membership. I didn’t like him,” he added.
Whereas Tchouameni has since proved his price at Actual Madrid, Bojan Sr.’s resolution highlights the subjectivity and complexity of participant scouting, the place even probably the most promising skills could not align with a selected membership’s imaginative and prescient or philosophy.