Marcus Thuram is a player Arsenal have been briefly linked with yet but after Arsene Wenger’s comments, that may change.
I know, I know, Arsene Wenger isn’t Arsenal manager any more. That doesn’t mean he can’t spot a player, so if he picks out a 23-year-old and says he’s the most like Thierry Henry that he’s seen, well, you’d be pretty stupid not to listen.
“Technically, he (Henry) could do everything, however there is one player in the Bundesliga who reminds me of him — Marcus Thuram at Borussia Moenchengladbach,” Wenger told magazine Spiegel.
If the name is familiar but you don’t know why, it’s probably because Marcus is the son of 1998 World Cup winner Lilian, whom Arsene Wenger managed for four years when they were both at Monaco.
Thuram joined Borussia Monchengladbach in the summer of 2019 from Guingamp, Didier Drogba and Laurent Koscielny’s old club, and has a contract there until 2023 when he’ll be 26.
He cost €8.1m the same summer we paid £72m for Nicolas Pepe.
This season, the right-footed left winger already has three goals and four assists from nine appearances (499 minutes), notching up a goal or assist every 71 minutes. Pepe, by contrast, is scoring or assisting this season at a rate of once every 178 minutes.
In 19/20 Thuram scored 14 and assisted nine in 39, with 10 goals and eight assists in 31 Bundesliga appearances.
Marcus Thuram from the archive – 24/03/2019
Arsenal launch ‘serious approach’ for Marcus Thuram
According to Le 10 Sport, Arsenal have launched a ‘serious approach’ for left-winger Marcus Thuram.
Despite his club struggling generally this season, the French website writes that he has been regarded well for his performances.
As such, a number of clubs are said to be monitoring his evolution closely.
So who are those clubs? Well, if Le 10 are to be believed, Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund.
Le 10 also believe that the player is ‘very likely to be on the market’ when the summer rolls around, and at an affordable price, too.
They then claim that no decision has yet been made but Arsenal could bid on him when the window opens, although you don’t need to be a genius to work that bit out for yourself.
Arsenal are said to be in the market for a winger and they don’t have a lot of money to spend so ‘affordable’ will be right in their price range.
As for Thuram, he has seven goals and one assist for Guingamp in 24 Ligue 1 appearances this season. With 11 goals and one assist in 29 matches, he isn’t having a bad season at all…
He will also only have a year left on his contract at the end of this season and Guingamp will no doubt want to sell rather than risk losing the 21-year-old for nothing next season.
Thuram, who has been capped for France at u17, u18, u19, and u20 level, is currently valued around the £8m mark despite only costing £540k 18 months ago.