Real Madrid midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni has spoken publicly for the first time about his clash with teammate Federico Valverde, admitting that an incident occurred but stressing that the situation has been “exaggerated” by the media.
The two players were fined 500,000 euros each by Real Madrid after a clash at the club’s training camp, an event that ESPN reports took place earlier this month.
The incident is said to have also had physical consequences for Valverde, who was treated in hospital after suffering a cut on his forehead and concussion.
Speaking from the French national team camp in Clairefontaine, Tchouameni stated that the situation has been exaggerated by the media.
“Of course something happened, you can read about it in the media. It’s exaggerated because it became news and when you play for Real Madrid, that gets a lot of attention. There are a lot of untrue things that have been written,” he said.
The French midfielder denied several reports that spoke of a direct physical confrontation and stressed that the relationship with Valverde remains good.
“I won’t go into details. The club knows exactly what happened. Many things remain inside the dressing room. Life goes on. Fede and I have the same objective: to win trophies with Real Madrid. There are no problems,” added Tchouameni.
This incident comes at a time when Real Madrid has had some internal tensions, including other clashes between players at the end of the season, which have been described as isolated cases and resolved within the team.
