A World Cup winner and a scorer of 50+ Ligue 1 Conforama goals in his last three completed seasons, Florian Thauvin is an Orange Vélodrome idol.
ligue1.com takes a close look at the French international's rise to stardom and how he turned himself into an Arjen Robben-esque 'you may know what I'm about to do but you won't be able to stop me doing it' sort of player.
Born in Orleans, Thauvin started his career at Grenoble where a stress fracture of the back as a youngster left him with a mountain to climb in the Alps. The exciting wide man made his debut against Vannes in Ligue 2 in March 2011 but found himself free of ties when Grenoble went bust that summer. Scouted by Pierre-Paul Antonetti, Thauvin made the journey to Corsica to join Bastia and was a minor player in the promotion-winning squad in 2011-2012. It was the following season that he made a major breakthrough, his form in the second half of the season after turning 20 making him one of Ligue 1 Conforama's leading young players.
Bastia breakthrough
Thauvin's first Ligue 1 double was scored as a teenager against Bordeaux in Round 10 of the 2012-2013 season, earning him a mark of eight out of ten in the following day's L'Equipe newspaper In January 2013 a 3.5 million euro deal was agreed with LOSC with Thauvin to spend the rest of the season on loan at Bastia before moving but the winger was never to sport the red shirt in the north of France. Thauvin told Onze Mondial : "I had exceptional years at Bastia. Corsicans are kind and welcoming and they gave me everything. I loved it and I'll remember it forever and I'll be grateful to them my whole life
It was now that Thauvin's career took a major turn as in early September LOSC almost quadrupled their money by agreeing to sell the player to Marseille - against whom he'd scored a wonder goal for Bastia in May 2013 ending Steve Mandanda's run of seven matches without conceding. The hefty price tag put pressure on Thauvin's shoulders but he had a good first season before finding life a bit tougher under Marcelo Bielsa in 2014-2015.
Thauvin admitted to Onze Mondial: "I had a good first season. The second was with Marcelo Bielsa and he asked me to run a lot. The problem was by running so much and helping the team defensively meant that when it came to finishing off things in attack I wasn't fresh and lucid enough."
A disappointing few months followed at Newcastle in the English Premier League before a welcome Vélodrome return in January 2016, on a loan move that was subsequently backed up with a further loan deal that included a mandatory option to buy. It was now that Thauvin's career really took off.
Marseille's Totti?
In September 2016 Thauvin invited ridicule when he said he wanted to become to OM what Francesco Totti represents to Roma fans. Thauvin went about things the right way and 2016-2017 was the season that his career statistics became to drawer. After 15 league goals that campaign he made his France debut against Paraguay in June 2017.
The Vélodrome was at last in his pocket and he told Onze Mondial: "It's clear hat the love of the fans is important to me. I've also learned to be strong without the love of fans because for a while a lot of people were against me. I know how to do both things. It's true it's easier when the Vélodrome is with you."
A mighty 22 goals followed in the league in 2017-2018, a season that saw OM lose to Atlético Madrid in the final of the UEFA Europa League before Thauvin played a small role in helping France to World Cup glory. He played only once, coming on in the 89th minute for Kylian Mbappé in the thrilling Round of 16 victory over Argentina and he commented to Onze Mondial: "The coach was very strong because he made sure everybody felt involved, we knew we could come on at any moment. He's a real leader of men."
Champions League dream with OM
Another 16 Ligue 1 goals followed in 2018-2019 for OM's most reliable attacking threat, OM's highest goalscorer of the decade 2010-2019. An ankle operation in September 2019 cut Thauvin down and he managed only 22 minutes in the curtailed campaign. In an Instagram interview the payer, under contract until 2021, said: "I'm telling you I'm stying. The debate is closed. You know what the club means to me and I'm happy here. And I've lost a season. Do you think I'm going to go when we're going to play Champions League football when I've been fighting to play in that competition for years. Also, I'm coming off a lengthy injury. Why do you want me to leave?"
