Real Madrid target son of France great as Casemiro replacement
Robin Bairner
- Updated: 23 Feb 2022 13:09 GMT
- 3 min read
Real Madrid will go into the summer transfer window with one eye on replacing veteran midfielder Casemiro, according to Sport.
The Bernabeu side may sit atop La Liga, but they trail 1-0 in their last-16 Champions League tie with Paris Saint-Germain after the first leg and look unlikely to trouble the favourites in the competition.
In a bid to regain their reputation as one of the very elite sides in Europe, they are ready to sign Kylian Mbappe from Paris Saint-Germain and Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund in the summer, but they are also eager to rejuvenate their midfield.
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Casemiro, Luka Modric and Toni Kroos are their regular three midfield starters, yet between them they have a combined age of 98. Unsurprisingly, Real Madrid are looking at younger alternatives, having already signed Eduardo Camavinga from Rennes in the summer.
Los Blancos are reportedly keeping a close eye on Nice midfielder Khephren Thuram, the youngest son of France legend Lilian Thuram and brother to Borussia Monchengladbach attacker Marcus Thuram, who has also won international honours.
What sort of player is Thuram?
Khephren has won acclaim in Ligue 1 thanks to his performances with Nice, who presently lie third in France’s top flight, having enjoyed significant investment in recent seasons.
Having started the season as a substitute, he has become increasingly regular in the starting XI and has made 27 appearances for Nice this season.
Despite the links, Thuram has shown himself to be of a different profile to Casemiro. The Frenchman is much more of a box-to-box player and has a higher performance in terms of his offensive statistics than the current Real Madrid man.
His recent rise in status in the Nice team means that he is unlikely to readily sold by the Ligue 1 side, especially if they qualify for the Champions League next season.
