Marcus Thuram is a player who has been linked with a move to Newcastle United on a pretty regular basis.
During his time playing at Borussia Monchengladbach, Newcastle were thought to be keen on the French striker.
The son of legendary France international Lilian Thuram, Marcus and his brother Khephren often found their names mentioned in transfer stories in the early days of the PIF days at Newcastle, but a move never materialised for either.
Marcus ultimately moved to Inter Milan in 2023 and while Newcastle would still be tentatively linked with a move for the Frenchman, once again it all felt like paper talk rather than anything concrete.
Once again, as the transfer window draws nearer and Newcastle’s need for more firepower up top, Marcus Thuram’s name is starting to appear in the gossip columns.
Aston Villa and Newcastle are both thought to be keen on the 28-year-old, according to Corriere dello Sport, who also claim that his €85 million (£74 million) release clause may not be an issue this summer, and he could be available for €65 million (£56 million).
That’s because his performances have come in for some intense scrutiny of late. Despite having scored 12 goals this season, seven of which were in Serie A, there’s a growing feeling that the striker has lost interest in playing for Inter as his attitude is being called into question.
L’Interista claims that after thriving at Inter for two seasons, Thuram has ‘lost all motivation’ recently and tends to go missing in big games.
That puts a huge question mark next to his name for us in terms of a move to Newcastle this summer given Eddie Howe’s insistence on commitment.
We already feel that at 28, Thuram is probably too old to be considered a top target for Newcastle, and now, if he’s showing signs of a difficult attitude, that rules him out entirely as far as we’re concerned. Especially at £56 million!
Having said that, though, we did sign 28-year-old Yoane Wissa for £55 million just days before he turned 29 after he went on strike at Brentford, so who knows anymore?