When Marcus Thuram picked up the ball inside the centre circle during Friday’s Bundesliga clash between Monchengladbach and Dortmund at Borussia Park, it’s fair to say there was only one thought in his mind.
The France international needed only two touches to leave Nico Schlotterbeck choking on his dust, breezing past the Dortmund defender with a nitrous-powered explosion of acceleration. Now, it’s hardly unheard of for strikers to go to pieces when they’ve got this long to think.
But Thuram, bearing down on Gregor Kobel’s goal after carrying the ball around 50 yards at full pelt, never looked like missing; rounding the ‘keeper with effortless ease before rolling into an open net.
Arsene Wenger once likened Thuram to Thierry Henry. And there were certainly shares of the Arsenal legend in the way Gladbach’s top scorer sliced through Dortmund like a knife through room temperature butter; breath-taking speed supplemented by an almost unshakeable self-confidence.
‘World-class’ Marcus Thuram is heading to the Qatar World Cup with France
“Thuram is a world-class striker,” Wolfsburg’s sporting director Marcel Schafer said recently; Thuram channelled his inner-Henry once again with another stunning solo strike in a 2-2 draw at the Volkswagen Arena.
“You have to say it like that. He has a world-class stature.”
Unfortunately for Gladbach, Thuram’s contract expires in less than 12 months’ time. A ‘world-class’ footballer leaving for nothing is the stuff of nightmares for the Borussia Park bosses. So much so that bids in the region of £26 million – a big reduction on his previous £40 million price-tag – will reportedly be considered in January (BILD).
Fabrizio Romano, however, believes Thuram – who’s tally 13 goals in 17 games makes 2022/23 the joint-most prolific campaign of his career already – could run down his contract while weighing up his options. As you might expect, such a stance is not going unnoticed.
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Milan Live believe that Arsenal, Aston Villa, Crystal Palace, Liverpool and Atletico Madrid are all interested. As are Liverpool (Fussball Transfers). Cutting in to devastating effect from his favoured role on the left; Thuram is perhaps one of the few players anywhere in Europe capable of striding straight into Jurgen Klopp’s starting XI. And the stylistic similarities between him and Sadio Mane – badly missed since his summer departure to Bayern Munich – are almost impossible to ignore.
“In my mind, I knew I was going to take a 26th (player),” France boss Didier Deschamps explains; calling Thuram into his France squad for the Qatar World Cup at the eleventh hour. “But I preferred to take a step back from all the games this weekend. (I wanted) to have the clearest possible picture before letting him join us.”
Was it that stunning solo goal against Dortmund which secured Thuram’s seat on the plane? Who could blame Deschamps, really, if that is indeed the case? Thuram, on current form, is simply too good to leave out.
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