Chelsea target Tchouameni beats Camavinga to Ligue 1’s Young Player of the Year prize

Robin Bairner

• Updated: 23 May 2023 08:47 CDT
• 6 min read

Chelsea transfer target Aurelien Tchouameni has capped a fine season for Monaco by winning the Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year 2021 award.

He succeeds 2019 winner Kylian Mbappe of Paris Saint-Germain – the 2020 awards were cancelled – and has beaten competitions from Nice’s Amine Gouiri, Lyon’s Maxence Caqueret, club-mate Sofiane Diop and, most notably, France international Eduardo Camavinga of Rennes.

READ MORE: Who is Aurelien Tchouameni? Monaco’s midfield powerhouse interesting Chelsea

Tchouameni was voted for this prize by his fellow professionals in France. He joins an impressive list of winners that includes Zinedine Zidane, Thierry Henry and Eden Hazard.

In total, the 21-year-old Tchouameni has played 35 Ligue 1 matches this season, scoring two goals and creating four more.

Should Monaco beat Lens away from home in Sunday’s final round of fixture, they will secure Champions League football next season, while there is a very outside chance that they might even win the title.

Tchouameni also helped Monaco to the final of the Coupe de France in midweek, a match they suffered a 2-0 loss to Lyon in.

Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year winners of the last 10 years

Tchouameni’s road to success

He has benefitted immensely from the arrival of Niko Kovac at Monaco last summer. Before then, he had been peripheral since arriving in January from Bordeaux for €18 million.

Indeed, he has kept Cesc Fabregas out of the team and has even won praise from the former Arsenal, Chelsea and Barcelona star.

“He can play anywhere in midfield and he will not have a problem,” Fabregas told BT Sport. “He can play as a No.6 alone, as a defensive midfielder, as a No.8, in a double 6. What he’s doing now, even in a year’s time, he could become a good No.10 if he wanted. He’s got the power to get into the box. He needs to improve his final pass a little bit, but he’s so young, and he’s determined to learn.

“From what I can see, and the will that he has, he has bright future ahead of him.”

Tchouameni may be most regularly praised for his power, stamina and work-rate, but he is also an intelligent player, and a combination of these attributes have seen the young Monaco star linked to the Premier League and Chelsea in particular.