Currently at Marseille until the 30th of June, when his loan deal expires, Florian Thauvin has apparently already let the French club know he would like to remain.
The right-winger suffered a very poor start to the season during his first few months at Newcastle, and was subsequently sent back to his former club to help regain confidence and form ahead of 2016-17.
However, with the club now in the Championship and the player most definitely unwilling to play in England’s second division, Newcastle have a choice to make: either they send him on loan again or cut their losses and sell him.
While it would be expected from Marseille to make another loan proposal considering the club’s dire financial situation, another club has now placed itself in line to sign the French forward.
Lazio in Italy are, according to Corriere dello Sport, interested in Florian Thauvin, and the reason behind this is Marcelo Bielsa.
The Argentinean manager was one of the few coaches in the player’s career so far to come close to getting the best out of him, and the player himself has expressed his gratitude towards Bielsa for everything he helped him achieve when he was in charge at Marseille.
Bielsa has since left Marseille and taken a year out, but is now ready to get back into the swing of things and accepted a one-year deal with Lazio in Italy.
According to Corriere, Newcastle value the player at around €17m for their 23-year-old winger, which would see them get most of their money back.
The player would be bought as a replacement for Antonio Candreva, with the Italy winger wanting to try something new at 29 years of age.
Thauvin has a long way to go before coming close to having a similar impact than the Italian forward, but if one man can get him to that level, it’s probably Marcelo Bielsa.
