Aston Villa are looking at bringing Borussia Monchengladbach and France international Marcus Thuram to Villa Park ahead of the January transfer window, Daily Express journalist Ryan Taylor has told GiveMeSport.
The striker is currently on World Cup duty in Qatar with Didier Deschamps’ Les Bleus squad as they look ahead to Sunday’s final with Argentina.
Aston Villa transfer news – Marcus Thuram
Taylor revealed in an article for the Daily Express last week that new Villa head coach Unai Emery is looking to kickstart the January transfer market with the additions of Atlético Madrid forward Matheus Cunha and Thuram.
The latter is now set to enter the final six months of his £82k-per-week contract at Monchengladbach, meaning that he can negotiate with clubs from abroad from next month.
Meanwhile, Bild in Germany have stated that the 25-year-old could be available for as little as £6m in January, whilst Fabrizio Romano has suggested it would be closer to a fee of £8.5m with the Bundesliga side desperate to claw some value back rather than let him leave the club for free next summer.
However, transfer insider Dean Jones has previously told GiveMeSport that the eight-time France international is looking for European football ahead of his next move, something which the West Midlands side are currently unable to provide.
But Taylor believes that Thuram is a more attainable target than Atlético and Portugal forward João Félix, whom Villa have also been linked with over the past few weeks.
What has Taylor said about Villa and Thuram?
Taylor told GiveMeSport: “There are other targets that Villa are looking at that are probably much more attainable than Félix. One being Marcus Thuram who is out of contract at the end of the season and free to negotiate with foreign clubs in January. I see that as a realistic January target that could be available at a cut price.”
How has Thuram performed at the World Cup?
Thuram has yet to start a game for France in Qatar as of yet but has made four appearances off the bench for Les Bleus, providing an assist in the side’s 3-1 victory over Poland in the last 16, according to Transfermarkt.
That is on top of the 13 goals and four assists the Frenchman has provided for Monchengladbach this season according to the same stats provider, suggesting that when given a regular run of games he is a reliable source of goals in the final third of the pitch.
According to Sofascore, the Parma-born striker has averaged just 19 minutes per game for the current reigning world champions, averaging 0.3 shots per game, which is to be expected having been given minimal playing time in the Middle East.
However, with a World Cup final to look forward to Sunday, Thuram’s main focus will be on impressing Deschamps in the build-up to the game to convince the manager that he can give Les Bleus an advantage in football’s showpiece event.