Real Madrid midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni has addressed the recent dressing-room dispute at the club and firmly rejected the serious allegations.
"Certain events have occurred, and you've all seen the coverage. But this situation has been blown out of proportion. At Real Madrid, everything provokes a massive reaction. Still, a lot of nonsense has appeared in the press," Tchouameni stated at a press conference at the French national team's World Cup training camp.
In early May, a heated altercation broke out during Real Madrid training between Tchouameni and his midfield teammate Fede Valverde. The situation escalated to such an extent that Valverde had to be taken to hospital with a head injury – which, according to Real Madrid's official statement, was caused by the Uruguayan accidentally bumping his head on a table.
Tchouameni later dismissed reports of a dressing-room brawl: "I've read that there was a fight and that I'm supposed to have hit him. That's simply not true. I won't go into any further detail."
Immediately after the incident, Tchouameni apologised to Real fans in a public statement. Valverde later stated that his team-mate had not struck him; the club fined both players €500,000 each for their dispute.
Tchouameni dismisses the dressing-room row at Real Madrid, stating: "There are no problems whatsoever".
"The most important thing is that the club knows what happened," Tchouameni explained. "So many things happen in the dressing room that the media never find out about. Life goes on."
The 26-year-old also stressed that there is no longer any bad blood between him and Valverde, despite earlier reports that the pair's tense relationship might force one of them to leave Real Madrid in the summer to protect the dressing-room atmosphere amid existing ego clashes.
"Fede and I have one clear goal: to win titles with Real Madrid. There are absolutely no problems," Tchouameni has now made clear. Looking ahead to a potential World Cup clash with Valverde's Uruguay, he added: "Of course I want to win with France then. But personally, there are no issues with Fede."
Tchouameni and Les Bleus open their World Cup campaign on 16 June against Senegal, with Norway and Iraq also in their group. Valverde's Uruguay will face Saudi Arabia, Cape Verde and Spain in the group stage.