According to reports, Tottenham Hotspur are eyeing to bring back Premier League flop Florian Thauvin hoping he would click this time. The forward has enjoyed a prolific season with Ligue 1 side Marseille this season after he was loaned off from Championship side Newcastle United, as a failure.
Under manager Rafael Benitez, Newcastle United went for a total change this season that saw many leaving the club and many coming in. The experiment worked quite well with the Magpies spending most of the season at the top of the table before Brighton & Hove Albion took over and became the first team to get promoted to the Premier League.
Promotion, however, won’t be a problem for Newcastle surely and Benitez has already started making preparations for life in the Premier League. After Thauvin’s recent display, Benitez will undoubtedly want him back and here lies the problem. With Marseille, highly likely to qualify for the Champions League or Europa League at least and now Thauvin having a new suitor in Champions League participant Tottenham, he wouldn’t want to play for a newly promoted side.
Reportedly, Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino is a fan of the 24-year-old and would go on full throttle to get his signature. Of course, they will be cautious as the last time Spurs bought a winger from Newcastle United, Moussa Sissoko, it went horribly.
Thauvin has scored 12 goals and seven assists so far, this season and Marseille’s new billionaire owner will also be wanting to keep the talented winger next season. Newcastle United seems to be the biggest loser here unless they get some huge fee through his sale.
An academy product of Grenoble Foot 38, Thauvin moved to SC Bastia on a free transfer in 2011. Two seasons there and LOSC Lille picked him up but kept him with Bastia on loan till the end of that season. Marseille bought him in 2013 and after two decent seasons sold him to Newcastle in 2015.
Thauvin had managed just three Premier League starts before the club decided to loan him off to his former club Marseille, just four months after arriving. It surely didn’t go down well with the player. The only way Tottenham can hijack this deal from right under Marseille’s nose would be if the Ligue 1 outfit fails to qualify for the Champions League.
It is also reported that the North London side has sought advice from his compatriot Marcelo Bielsa, who was Thauvin’s former boss at Marseille, for a move and the report is positive.
