Vice-president Mauricio Culebro has shed a light on how Tigres managed to fight off competition from Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham to sign World Cup winner Florian Thauvin, while speaking to Radio Marca.
Six years after the Mexican giants raised eyebrows on both sides of the Atlantic by luring Andre-Pierre Gignac away from Marseille, Tigres returned to a familiar hunting ground to complete another shock signing that not even Derren Brown saw coming.
With his L’OM contract expiring in July, it was expected that Thauvin would swap Ligue 1 for another major European league.
L’Equipe reported in March that Leicester and Crystal Palace had held talks with the France international.
West Ham expressed an interest too, via L’Equipe, while London rivals Spurs had identified Thauvin as a potential successor for Real Madrid loanee Gareth Bale (Estadio Deportivo).
Imagine the surprise, then, when it emerged that the one-time Newcastle youngster would instead be reunited with Gignac at the Estadio Universitario.
“We were ahead of teams in Europe,” Culebro said after sealing perhaps the most high-profile transfer in the history of Mexican football.
“If we had not done it with speed, maybe another club who wanted to hire Florian would have gotten in. I had to speed up the negotiation and the communication to make a great presentation.
“We followed up on him, we knew his contractual issue and that his contract was ending this season. Andre (Pierre Gignac) did a great job, he told him we were interested and he replied that he was interested and was open to listening (to an offer).
“We spoke with his representative, we introduced him to Mexico and this team.”
According to Tuttomercatoweb, Thauvin has signed a five-year contract at Tigres worth around £4.3 million-a-year (£80,000-a-week).
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
