- 3 hours ago
Thauvin: New contract talks with Marseille barely started
Robin Bairner
- Updated: 19 May 2021 15:43 BST
- 3 min read
Marseille star Florian Thauvin admits that he is contract talks with the Ligue 1 club but says they have “barely started”.
Milan and Sevilla are both linked with the France international attacker, whose contract will expire at the end of the season.
The former Newcastle man, though, does not yet know what his future holds. Instead, he wants to focus on more immediate challenges with OM.
Florian Thauvin snapshot:
| STATISTIC | FLORIAN THAUVIN |
|---|---|
| AGE | 27 |
| CLUB | Marseille |
| INTERNATIONAL TEAM | France |
| POSITION | Right wing |
| STYLE | Classic Winger |
| CONTRACT EXPIRES | 2021 |
| MARSEILLE APPS | 243 |
| MARSEILLE GOALS | 81 |
“Nothing has been decided yet,” he told the media. “We’ve barely started discussions with the club. So for the moment, it’s far too early to tell what will happen.
“Honestly, for now, I don’t know. It’s too early to tell.
“I’m focusing on [Wednesday’s Champions League match] against Porto and we have to do better.”
Thauvin has endured a difficult year with OM. Although regarded as one of their stars, he missed the duration of last season because of an ankle injury and was just regaining fitness when the coronavirus pandemic took hold.
This term, he is struggling to rediscover his best level. The 27-year-old has played 12 matches and has scored three goals and created five more. However, he has only found the target once since getting the winner against PSG on 13th September.
Thauvin’s career started with Grenoble but he quickly moved on to Bastia. His star quickly rose in Corsica, earning him a move to Marseille in 2013. After two years at Stade Velodrome, he was transferred to Newcastle but never caught fire in the Premier League and was shunted back to OM, initially under loan terms.
Marseille bought the player once again in 2017, whereupon he found his best level of form. He scored 22 goals in 34 league appearances in the 2017/18 season and then notched 16 in 33 league outings in the following campaign.
Should he rediscover that level, cash strapped OM, who may also lose head coach Andre Villas-Boas in the summer, may well find other clubs circling.
