Liverpool face January transfer battle to land Khephren Thuram

Jacque Talbot

• 12 Jan 2023 11:20 GMT
• 3 min read

Exclusive

Nice are wanting to keep Khephren Thuram until the summer but a suitable offer of around €30m should be enough to persuade them to depart with the 21-year-old, FootballTransfers has learnt.

We exclusively reported that Liverpool have had talks with the midfielder who shone for his Ligue 1 side in their 6-1 thrashing of Montpellier last night with a goal and an assist.

READ MORE: Khephren Thuram: Why Liverpool fans should be excited

At one point last summer, after a string of spellbinding second-half-of-the-season displays for Nice, the French club valued him at just €15m, we have been informed.

It was at the time when current Paris Saint-Germain boss and former coach of Nice, Christophe Galtier, wanted to bring the youngster to the Parc des Princes in July and rekindle their relationship.

Sources in France have said they are bewildered that the price was so low for a player of his quality - but the move never transpired in any case.

Indeed, the general consensus is that it will be a summer move for the Frenchman, but a hefty one-off fee should be enough to seal his signature this January window.

Thuram came through the Monaco academy before moving to Nice. Across four seasons for the side, he has played 113 games and scored six goals.

He has been linked, as well as PSG, to Newcastle but nothing went through and he remains at Les Aiglons to this day.

FootballTransfers values the towering player at €17.9m - while his contract is up in 2025.

Liverpool’s missing link

Liverpool are in need of a player who can come in at a relatively cheap price and help out in midfield as they try and get their season on track.

Being such a young age, Thuram can be developed and eventually made into a long-term replacement for Fabinho in the future.

Jude Bellingham remains a target and, despite reports in Spain suggesting he’s chosen Real Madrid, we are told by German sources that the England international has not yet made his mind up on his future after Borussia Dortmund.