Florian Thauvin

Florian Thauvin is a French professional footballer who was born on January 26, 1993 in Orleans, France. He plays as a winger for his team.

Background

Thauvin began playing professional football at a very early age of 7 years with Ingre. Later he played for other youth teams like Saint-Jean-de-la-Ruelle and Orléans before playing with Grenoble as his first senior team. He made his debut for them against Vannes in a 1-1 away draw match on March 11, 2011.

Apart from club football, Thauvin also played regularly with the French Youth teams from under-18 to under-21 before making debut for the senior team. Also, he was a part of the French squad that won the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Turkey. During that tournament, he scored once in the 4-0 win over Uzbekistan in the quarter-finals and twice in the 2-1 victory over Ghana in the semi-final match.

Debut

On March 25, 2017, Thauvin was first selected for the senior France team in a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying match but he did not play it and was again selected in a match against Spain but didn't play that either. Finally on June 2, 2017, Thauvin made his international debut in a 5-0 win over Paraguay, where he came in the 80th minute as a substitute for Antoine Griezmann.

Rise to glory

Post 2017 has been great for Thauvin. It began right from the time he was made the captain of Marseille during an away match against Toulouse on January 8, 2017 which Marseille won 2-1. Later that year on March 10, in a match against Angers he scored two goals and won the ‘UNFP Player of the Month’ for March for his tally of three goals and two assists.

On the 30th of next month, Thauvin scored his first hattrick of senior career in a 5-1 away win over Caen. He also assisted one goal of Maxime Lopez in that match.

Low points

Before 2017, Thauvin was never able to perform well and come into the limelight. For example, in 2013, he was not able to make a single appearance for Lille.

In 2017, Thauvin was engaged in a controversy where he was criticized by Newcastle's all time top scorer for turning up to a game wearing tuxedo. But after Thauvin joined Marseille back, he gained much popularity and his performances started to enhance.

Club career

Florian Thauvin started his senior club career with Grenoble where he appeared for just three games before moving to Bastia in 2011 where his main career began. His first goal for Bastia came in a 3-1 victory over Bordeaux. Bastia also won Ligue 2 title triumph in 2012 where Thauvin was also a part.

In 2013, Thauvin signed a four-and-a-half-year deal with Ligue 1 club Lille for a reported fees of €3.5 million. After his impressive performances there, Thauvin was named the Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year.

Later that year, Thauvin signed a deal with Olympique de Marseille for €15 million but his team was eliminated from the Coupe de France during the last-64 round in 2015. He made 81 appearances for them over two seasons where he scored 15 goals.

In August 2015, Thauvin joined Newcastle United after signing a five year deal for a reported fee of €15 million and made his debut for them in a goalless draw match against Manchester United on August 25. His best performance for them came against Northampton Town in the League Cup where he scored one goal and assisted three goals in a 4-1 home victory.

On January 31, 2016, he moved back to Marseille and had a very good time with them where he also captained the side during 2016-17 Coupe de France. Also, he scored two hat tricks for them; one in a 5-1 away win over Caen and other in a 6-3 home win over Metz.

Records

Florian Thauvin was part of the Bastia side that won Ligue 2 in 2011-12. In in international career, he was there with the French side that won FIFA U20 World Cup in 2013.

In his individual records, he won the ‘UNFP Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year’ for 2012-13 and 'UNFP Player of the Month’ in March 2017, November 2017 and January 2018.