Marseille winger Florian Thauvin is getting back to his best and former Arsenal star Robert Pires has told La Provence he’s backing the reported Aston Villa and Leicester City target to force his way back into Didier Deschamps’ France team.
The 2018 World Cup winner certainly faces a race against time if he’s to claim a place in the ‘chosen 23’ ahead of next summer’s European Championships.
Thauvin missed more than 30 games last season through injury.
As a result, he has fallen behind the likes of Anthony Martial, Jonathan Ikone and Kingsley Coman in the pecking order, with the one-time Newcastle flop left out of Deschamps’ squad for this month’s Nations League fixtures.
However, a stunning start to the Ligue 1 season has thrust Thauvin back into the headlines at precisely the right time.
The 27-year-old scored his first goals in 15 months as he inspired Marseille to a 3-2 win over Brest last weekend amid claims from Tuttomercatoweb that Aston Villa and Leicester are eyeing a bargain £13 million deal.
“Even if he isn’t called this time, he is in Didier Deschamps’ plans,” says Pires, the Arsenal legend who conquered the world alongside the France boss in 1998.
“He is coming back from injury but was decisive in Brest. It is up to him to continue like this. If he’s consistent, DD will call him again.”
Thauvin has just one year left on his contract, which explains why Leicester and Villa (one of Pires’s former clubs) believe they can snap up the former Bayern Munich target on the cheap.
Although it remains to be seen if one of Ligue 1’s biggest talents can rediscover the form that saw him produce 26 goals and 17 assists in 2017/18.
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