Real Madrid and Liverpool have both spoken with Monaco to register their interest in signing Aurelien Tchouameni, 90min understands.
The 22-year-old has been in fine form this season in Ligue 1 and is widely recognised as one of European football's top midfield prospects.
Chelsea have long held an interest in signing Tchouameni, who joined Monaco from Bordeaux in January 2020, and were in talks last summer over a possible transfer - though they ultimately opted against making a move despite discussing a buy to loan deal.
90min understands that Chelsea remain keen to agree a deal for Tchouameni, but not only will a deal be difficult to complete because of the club's ongoing ownership issues, they now face competition from heavyweight duo Real Madrid and Liverpool.
The pair are both keen to bolster their midfield options - with one eye firmly on the future - and 90min can confirm they have made their interest in Tchouameni known to Monaco. But, at the time of writing, no bids have been lodged with the Principality outfit.
Listen now to 90min's brand new podcast, Talking Transfers, with Scott Saunders, Graeme Bailey & Toby Cudworth. This week they discuss mounting interest in Monaco midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni. There's also updates on the contract situations of Sadio Mane, Reece James, Pep Guardiola & Kylian Mbappe, Marcus Rashford's next moves and Manchester United's interest in Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong.
Real would ideally like to pay little more than the €40m they forked out for Eduardo Camavinga last summer, and Tchouameni is understood to be 'intrigued' by the prospect of playing in Madrid.
However, 90min has learned that Monaco intend to stand by their valuation of €60m and are likely to hold out for that price given the substantial interest in him.
Manchester United and Manchester City are also believed to be keeping tabs on Tchouameni's situation - he has two years remaining on his Monaco contract - although they have other targets ahead of him on their summer shopping lists, while Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid are also admirers.
Source: 90min
