Fabrice Gautier, the personal trainer of Aurelien Tchouameni, recently sat down for an interview with Diario AS, where he talked about the Real Madrid star’s fitness regime and his experience of working with the midfielder.

Gautier discussed how he first began working with Tchouameni, then just 17 years old, alongside his agent Jonathan Kebe.

“At that time, Aurelien had broken his ankle, and when they came, at first, we solved the problem for them, but we also humbly tried to teach them how to be professional, how to build a routine, to hire a professional chef. That kind of thing to try to be as professional as they could with their body,” Gautier said.

“We always say here in the United States that ‘the best quality of an athlete is to be available’. Before thinking about dreams and goals, you have to be healthy,” he added.

Formerly of AS Monaco, Tchouameni has enjoyed an excellent year so far. He has made an impression with his versatility and work ethic, eventually becoming a key part of the Real Madrid team during the second half of last season.

Reflecting on Tchouameni’s last session at his clinic, Gautier stated, “We did mostly recovery. We work on trying to reprogram the brain, trying to be stable in an unstable environment with balance exercises. The idea is to build greater stability and mobility.”

Gautier heaped praise on both his clients Aurelien and Jules Kounde for their commitment and mentality. “It is incredible. I met them very young, although I’m not surprised either. They have an amazing mindset. This generation has a lot of content within reach that they can learn,” he said. 

“I always say that what we do is like adding gasoline to a Formula 1 car. Of course, we help. Of course, we have all the right people, but they have special talents,” he added.

When asked about the person who dictates the training regime, Gautier replied, “It’s mainly me and then we adapt. In the last session, we only did five or ten minutes in the gym because he has to go back to the team and train, they are going to have games soon.”

“We have to reduce the load. You have to use common sense. It’s not about destroying the guy and trying to make him vomit every practice. It is adapting. And if you do it consistently, you keep building,” he added.

Talking about Tchouameni and his physicality, the trainer said: “Sometimes I say he’s a cross between a sprinter and a marathon runner, which doesn’t make sense because they’re not the same muscle fibres.”

“But watch him play. He’s tough, but he’s also able to bring grit, be aggressive and very explosive. And he’s only 23 years old.”

Tchouameni saw his form dip last season after a strong start. Talking about the minor decline in his performances and the possible reasons behind it, Gautier added: “There are so many factors… The World Cup in the middle of the season is certainly one of them. There are athletic, recovery, emotional factors? I don’t know, it’s just what I think personally.

“You change teams in the summer and it’s going well, you get to the World Cup final and you lose in a dramatic way. You have to recover from that. It takes time. A lot of times people underestimate the emotional impact of losing a final.”

Gautier believes Tchouameni is gearing up for the new season ahead and is ready to make a strong statement, as he said: “I think he’s going to have a kind of personal vindication, he’s going to have that mentality that he’s going to show everybody that great things are coming.

“What people have to understand is that these athletes demand more of themselves than any fan could ever do. And their goals are so high that they work every day to achieve them.”

“It’s hard for me to tell you what’s going to happen, so many factors come into play, but personally I always think he’s going to be amazing because he’s worked hard,” he added.