Newcastle United secured their fifth signing of the summer transfer window following the capture of Marseille winger Florian Thauvin on a five-year deal. The 22-year-old France U21 international expressed his gratitude at the club for investing faith in him:
“I am delighted to be a Newcastle United player. I have come from France to a really big club and am very happy to be here. It is a big honour to know that Newcastle have been after me for such a long time and that they wanted me that much. They have put their trust in me and I am looking forward to playing for the team.”
The History
Born in Orleans, France, Thauvin cut his teeth at a trio of local amateur clubs, before joining the youth academy at Grenoble. He made his debut for the French Alps outfit in March 2011, tallying a further two Ligue 2 appearances that term. Grenoble were subject to liquidation and a subsequent demotion to the fifth tier of French football at the end of the season, prompting Thauvin to make the switch to Ligue 1 club Bastia in the summer of 2011.
Following a debut season that produced zero attacking returns in 13 outings, Thauvin established himself as a regular starter in the 2012/13 campaign. Lille came calling in January 2013, signing the youngster for a €3.5 million fee, before loaning him back to Bastia for the remainder of the season. Thauvin went on to tally ten goals and three assists across 32 appearances, earning the accolade of Ligue 1’s Young Player of the Year.
Thauvin never returned to Lille amid reports that he was irked by the sacking of former head coach Rene Girard, instead opting to join Marseille in September 2013. His first season at the Stade Veledrome harvested eight goals and four assists in 31 outings, while in the following term he racked up five goals and seven assists.
Thauvin has represented France at every youth level from the U18s. He developed into a key player for the U20s (seven goals in 16 appearances) and U21s (seven goals in 10 appearances) but has yet to receive a call-up for the senior squad.
The Prospects
Thauvin is a left-footed winger who prefers to operate on the right flank and cut inside. Nonetheless, the Frenchman was deployed on the left flank on ten occasions during his final campaign with Marseille, illustrating his versatility.
In all three fixtures so far, Steve McClaren has deployed a 4-2-3-1 set-up, with Gabriel Obertan and Moussa Sissoko taking up that responsibility in the opening two match-ups, before the latter missed the weekend trip to Old Trafford due to a groin problem. This paved the way for Ayoze Perez to earn a start on the right flank, although he seems unlikely to retain that berth once Sissoko is back in contention.
Although the new signing was handed his debut as a sub on the Newcastle right flank at Old Trafford, it seems more likely that he’ll oust Obertan from the opposite wing when McClaren has a fully-fit squad at his disposal. Young Rolando Aarons may be utilised as an impact sub late on in matches, then, whilst the likes of Yoan Gouffran and Siem de Jong may struggle for pitch time, with Georginio Wijnaldum looking nailed-on in the central support role behind a lone striker.
Pouring over Thauvin’s underlying statistics from the previous campaign, it’s clear he’s not a natural finisher: a 25% shot accuracy serves to highlight his errant shooting, while a 6.9% conversion rate paints a concerning picture with regards to his potential for attacking returns. For comparisons sake, Sissoko netted with just four of his 44 attempts last term yet still posted a superior conversion rate of 9.1%.
Thauvin fared better on the creative front, having amassed 53 key passes at a frequency of one every 47.1 minutes. No Toon midfielder could better that frequency last season, which bodes well for his assist potential. This represented a marked improvement from his debut campaign with Marseille – in which he notched just 31 key passes – so there are promising signs of progression.
Although Thauvin comes in at 6.5 in Fantasy Premier League (FPL), Wijnaldum (7.0) is arguably the prime pick among Newcastle’s attacking options, with the rotation between Papiss Cisse and Aleksandar Mitrovic limiting their appeal. The Dutch midfielder netted in the Magpies’ season opener and ranks top among their midfielders this term for attempts (three), shots inside the box (two) and key passes (three). That being said, the Tynesiders’ awful run of fixtures (ARS, whu, WAT, CHE, mci) encourages us to steer clear of their attacking assets until their schedule clears up from Gameweek 9 (NOR, sun, STO, bou, LEI, cry).
Further Reference
Florian Thauvin Wikipedia Page
