In many ways it’s actually refreshing to see a young player who wants to go out and play first team football rather than sitting in an U23 team for years.
It seems remarkable to think that the most surprising transfer of the summer will belong to Airdrie, but they’ve somehow managed to pull this off:
The Diamonds have landed a sensational transfer coup by securing the signature of French midfielder Thomas Robert amid interest from top-flight clubs around Europe. https://t.co/oYVPwm9bXe pic.twitter.com/HFUvRYs9nZ
— Airdrieonians FC (@AirdrieoniansFC) July 9, 2020
The Sun reported that he was heavily linked with Celtic, and that’s a move that could’ve made sense when you consider the young players that they’ve been able to develop in recent years.
He was regarded as one of the most promising prospects in the Montpellier youth team, and the French side are known for bringing through their younger players.
The report from Airdrie also suggests that he’s turned down offers from Bundesliga and Ligue 1 clubs, and one of them was a four year contract.
This will be fascinating to see how it works out as the hype suggests he should be too good for this level, but he will probably get his fair share of physical treatment too.
He’s the son of former Newcastle player Laurent Robert, but it’s clear that he’s going to take a very different career path than his father.