Arsene Wenger, when watching a baby-faced Marcus Thuram tear through Ligue 1 defences in the dark red of Guingamp, just could not get one thought out of his head.
“Thierry Henry had the timing of the smartest footballers,” the legendary Arsenal boss told Der Spiegel back in 2020. “He was also very strong physically, and technically he could do everything.
“In fact, there’s a player who reminds me of him – Marcus Thuram.”
We’ve seen our fair share of so-called ‘new Henry’s’ over the last two decades, from Patson Daka to David Bellion. But, while Thuram might never hit the vertigo-inducing heights of arguably the Premier League’s greatest ever forward, the France international continues to go from strength to strength at Borussia Monchengladbach, cutting in from the left-hand side in a manner reminiscent of Henry at his devastating best.
“Thuram is a world-class striker,” Wolfsburg’s sporting director Marcel Schafer said in the autumn, Gladbach’s number ten channelling his inner-Henry with a stunning solo goal.
“You have to say it like that. He has a world-class stature.”
Marcus Thuram a Tottenham, Newcastle and Aston Villa target
Perhaps a more modern, up-to-date comparison would be Marcus Rashford; perhaps the most in-form attacker anywhere in world football at the time of writing. Thuram, like the Manchester United talisman, can play through the middle. He is at his most effective, however, when arrowing in from the left; his dazzling footwork, blistering pace and emphatic finishing ability making Thuram a complete, remarkably well-rounded footballer with almost unlimited potential.
In 20 starts, Thuram has 14 goals this season. One more and 2022/23 will be officially his most prolific campaign yet. The Italy-born 25-year-old is not only a goalscorer, meanwhile, but now a scorer of big goals. His most recent strike was a late-winner against Bayern Munich; Julian Nagelsmann’s side once again falling victim to their traditional ‘bogey side’. That was his second against Bayern this season alone, Gladbach taking four points off the Bundesliga leaders.
With Newcastle and Aston Villa in talks with Thuram’s agent (FC Inter News) – and Tottenham Hotspur also keeping tabs on his situation (The Times) – Gladbach are under no illusions about the size of the task facing them, and their new director of football Roland Virkus.
“The fact that he plans to leave on a free transfer is not a positive situation. I can’t sugarcoat it,” says Virkus; replacing Thuram – who’s contract expires in July – easier said than done.
“We stretched ourselves (to the limit). We have to accept that there are bigger clubs Marcus might move to.”
Wenger saw shades of a young Henry with Thuram. The similarities between he and Rashford, meanwhile, go beyond their shared forename.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
