Florian Thauvin must know exactly how Iago Aspas feels.
The Celta Vigo legend might has averaged 18 La Liga goals across the last five seasons, humiliating Barcelona on an annual basis and, at times, almost single-handedly saving his boyhood club from the jaws of relegation.
But, for those of you who consider football outside of English shores to be nothing more than a bunch of farmers getting together for a weekend kickabout, Aspas’ entire career will be reduced to a dreadful spell at Liverpool and a miskicked corner, forever immortalised the form of a six-second gif
Yet Aspas is not alone.
Underachieving on British shores can be a death knell for a player’s reputation in the eyes of the English. Just ask Memphis Depay, Diego Forlan, Juan Cuadrado and more.
And that brings us to Thauvin.
For many, the French winger stands out as one of the most disappointing players in Newcastle United’s recent history.
He arrived for a cool £15 million amid plenty of fanfire and comparisons to the legendary David Ginola. Just three, goalless Premier League starts later, however, Thauvin was sentenced to eternal damnation in the pantheon of Premier League flops.
But, with TMW reporting that Aston Villa and Leicester City are set to offer him another chance on English soil, a man wasted out of position by Steve McClaren should instead be praised for the way he has rebuilt his career since escaping Tyneside.
“He is a very good player,” said none other than Edinson Cavani during Thauvin’s stunning 2016/17 season at Marseille.
“He is the only one who has been consistent in the last three months despite the bad results that Marseille have had. I like him. And as well he is left-footed. Left-footed players always have something a little different.”
15 goals and eight assists caught not only the attention of Cavani but some of the biggest clubs in world football.
Ouest-France reported that he was a £70 million target for Bayern Munich, before notching 22 goals and 11 assists the season after and raising his price-tag into the nine-figure region.
An unfortunate series of injuries have prevented Thauvin establishing himself as a truly elite-level attacker since then, however. And, with Marseille failing to extend a contract which expires in 2021, Villa and Leicester are now battling it with his valuation tumbling to just £13 million.
Should a return to England arise, the narrative will centre around a player with a point to prove. But prove it he has – even if French football remains, in the minds of the uneducated, a ‘Farmer’s League’ and nothing more.
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