Real Madrid and France midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni, who was recently called up to the French National Team World Cup squad alongside Karim Benzema and Eduardo Camavinga, gave an interview with French media outlet L’Équipe. Tchouameni spoke about the sale of Casemiro, how Kylian Mbappe tried to convince him to go to PSG this summer, and more.

On the pressure of playing for Real Madrid

“In my head, I’m made for this. This is my destiny. It means I’ve worked hard, that I I’ve made sure I got here. Now that I’m here, what do I do? I have to earn the starting job, I have to perform well, I have to win titles. So I’m not here to watch.

“We are a group and we are not all here to be friends, but to respect each other and win.. I’m lucky to have a lot of Francophones in the group, so it’s easier to adapt.”

On choosing Real Madrid, and Mbappe trying to convince him otherwise

“I feel that I am where I have always wanted to be. I am where I have to be.

“Above all, at the end of the season, because (Mbappe) was also on standby, it was a very interesting conversation with Kylian. He wanted to know what I was planning to do. I also asked him what he was planning to do. In June he decided he was going to stay and he was teasing me with Kimpembe: ‘Come on, you have to come too to PSG!’ But my choice was already made a long time ago. We laughed.”

On his own performance, Modric’s greatness and the sale of Casemiro

“I can tell you that taking the ball from Luka’s feet is very difficult. When you manage to take it from a guy like that, you can take it from anyone.

“If Casemiro was still here, I wouldn’t play as much. Anyway, in Madrid, if you’re not good, you don’t play. So if I’m playing a lot of games, it means things are going well.”