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Arsenal target to continue great Marseille start against Reims

Andrew Gibney
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Andrew Gibney

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a summer of interest, Arsenal are still keen on winger Florian Thauvin. His Marseille side take on Stade de Reims on Tuesday night.

This week in France, Ligue 1 sides take on their first mid-week card of the season, something that, coming off the first round of European games is a definitely time for the league’s top sides. However, at Olympique de Marseille, they don’t have such a problem and it has led to some excellent performances from Arsenal target and OM winger Florian Thauvin.

Despite advances from the London club this summer, and the ongoing links, Thauvin declared he is happy in Marseille, and there is no reason he shouldn’t be. His side are top of Ligue 1 and playing some wonderful football at the moment.

Thauvin is not the only player in Marseille’s attack to have been linked with a move away, with Andre Ayew, Dimitri Payet and Andre-Pierre Gignac all rumoured with leaving the club this summer.

On Tuesday they take on Stade de Reims at the Stade Auguste Delaune, looking to continue their excellent form. It’s not just the results that have gone their way, but the free-flowing attacking football has been a joy to watch. The same sort of football Arsenal can play when at their best.

If Arsenal are still genuinely interested in making a move for Thauvin in the next seven months, they will get a great idea of how he would fit in Arsene Wenger’s system by the way that Marcelo Bielsa has OM playing in the opening six games of the season.

If Arsenal fans want to get a glimpse of Thauvin and his teammates and see if the France under-21 international can add to his assist and two goals, the match is on BT Sport 2 at 6pm on Wednesday.

Then on Wednesday evening, Newcastle United fans might be interested to take a look at how Montpellier are faring after they signed top scorer Remy Cabella this summer.

It hasn’t been the worst start for La Paillade; they have three wins from six and after the goalless draw at Lille on Sunday the sit sixth in Ligue 1. Montpellier post-Cabella looks to be faring better than their Geordie friends this season.

They host Monaco at the Stade de Mosson on Wednesday and although the Monegasque side sit 16th currently, an away win would take them level on points with their opponents.

Thauvin is exactly the kind of player Wenger relishes the opportunity to work with – he’s young, exceptionally technically gifted, audacious and would seem to have an impeccable attitude. He and Grenier fit the mold ideally of an Arsene Wenger signing at Arsenal.

With the Grenier deal having fallen through over a month ago after the player agreed a new deal with club Lyon, could the manager now have trained his gaze on Thauvin? He has the kind of potential that was seen in a 20-year-old Samir Nasri back in 2008 at Marseille and we all know how that worked out, for a while at least.

At present, Nasri’s old club are in the process of trying to negotiate a move for young Thauvin and, subsequently, Lille have slapped a £13 million price tag on him to ward off rival Ligue 1 clubs.

However, if they are resigned to losing him this summer, they may well prefer to sell him to a foreign suitor and I can’t imagine the player’s advisors denying him an opportunity to work with one of the finest French managers in history.

The only stumbling block may be Lille and their reluctance to sell a gifted youngster who only recent penned a new deal to keep him there until 2017. I do still, however, suspect that if Arsenal wanted Florian Thauvin they could have him. The question, of course, is whether the fans would be satisfied with another relative unknown 20-yea-old Frenchman coming in? Their hasn't exactly been a rapturous reception for Sanogo.

image: © Morgan Sanson. The midfield plays deeper than Cabella, but he has shown bags of leadership and has already proved to be MHSC’s creative presence this season.

Sanson will be looking to pull the strings against Monaco and you can watch that game on ESPN at 6pm on Wednesday.

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Andrew Gibney

Andrew Gibney started following France's Ligue 1 about 10 years ago and it is an obession that has stayed with him ever since.His writing career started as a hobby, but now he calls Lille, France his home and spends his weekend either watching Lille OSC or teams down in the fifth division of the French league pyramid, forever searching for the next Eden Hazard.A typical Glasweigan, he once walked 106 miles in seven days, from Sheffield to Lille, just to avoid paying for the Eurostar. Managing to talk his way into a few freebies from other clubs along the way.

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