Makelele backs Tchouaméni as Madrid's best and warns Mourinho he needs a line-breaker to unlock Mbappé

Claude Makelele has identified Aurélien Tchouaméni as Real Madrid’s standout performer of the past season and argued that José Mourinho’s rebuilt squad is missing a specific midfield profile without which Kylian Mbappé cannot function at his best.

Tchouaméni singled out for consistency

The former Madrid holding midfielder was unambiguous in his assessment, saying: “Tchouameni was the only consistent player from beginning to end.” The endorsement carries particular weight given the scrutiny Tchouaméni has faced since his arrival from Monaco, including well-publicised friction with Fede Valverde earlier this year.

Makelele’s public backing also complicates any case for selling the France international. Reports earlier in the summer placed Tchouaméni and Eduardo Camavinga in broader squad restructuring discussions as the club pursued Michael Olise, but a vocal defence from one of the club’s most respected former players shifts the narrative around his future.

Mourinho backed — but warned he needs the tools

Makelele expressed confidence in Mourinho’s return to the Bernabéu while making clear that managerial quality alone will not be enough. “Mourinho isn’t stupid, he’s a good coach, one of the best coaches,” he said. “He knows he’s going to need a strong team to win La Liga.”

That caveat feeds directly into what Makelele regards as Madrid’s most pressing structural problem: the absence of a midfielder capable of carrying the ball through pressure and connecting quickly with the front line. “At Real Madrid, there isn’t that type of midfielder who carries the ball and breaks lines,” he said. “They need a player like that, who can deliver quick passes to the attackers, to himself, to Vinicius Junior, and to the players up front.”

It is a profile Mourinho himself prioritised during his first spell at the club, when Ángel Di María and Mesut Özil provided exactly that vertical link between midfield and attack.

The Mbappé argument

Makelele also pushed back against the criticism that has surrounded Mbappé during his debut season in Spain. “I don’t agree with the Mbappé criticism,” he said. “A lot of people are criticizing Mbappé. He’s for the team, but he’s a striker. A striker always wants to score.”

He went further, framing the issue as structural rather than motivational. “Mbappé often comes to collect the ball in midfield, and who’s going to be up front? When he’s up front, he’s scoring.” The logic is that the same line-breaking midfielder Makelele is calling for would keep Mbappé higher up the pitch and in more dangerous positions — a two-birds argument that places midfield recruitment at the centre of everything Madrid want to achieve under Mourinho next season.