Liverpool’s decision to cool their interest in the potential transfer of Nice midfielder Khephren Thuram to focus on signing Romeo Lavia instead could end up being a sensible move.
That’s according to French football expert Jonathan Johnson in his exclusive CaughtOffside column, who says it might’ve been a bit early for Thuram to be moving to the Premier League, even if he is a ‘phenomenal’ talent.
Thuram has impressed in Ligue 1 and it’s not surprising that Liverpool were showing an interest at some stage, though Johnson also feels it makes sense that they have now cooled their interest due to the availability of Dominik Szoboszlai, while Lavia offers more of a ready-made Premier League option in that area of the pitch.
“As has been widely reported, Liverpool have now ended their interest in signing Khephren Thuram from Nice, and to be honest I’m not entirely surprised,” Johnson said.
“While I rate Thuram as a phenomenal talent, I do think that a move up to the Premier League might not have come that easily to him at this stage of his career.
“Romeo Lavia, by contrast, has experience in the Premier League and that makes him more of an obvious fit, while I also think the fact that the opportunity for Dominik Szoboszlai presented itself has also been a bit of a hit to Thuram’s chances of making that move.
“Still, it’s not necessarily the worst thing for his development. I’ve felt for some time that Thuram might be better served by staying in Ligue 1 for a bit longer, maybe for one or two more years. It’s unfortunate for him that the Nice project isn’t really living up to expectations at this moment in time, though it could be the start of something more promising under the exciting new appointment of Francesco Farioli.
“But with no European football this season, it’s difficult to see where Thuram gets that major development he needs to really push him on. I think he’s definitely a name that will be of interest to a number of European clubs, we now know that probably won’t be Liverpool, but I do think going to the Premier League would’ve required a significant adaptation period for him, so that’s perhaps what led Liverpool to cool their interest and place a greater important on getting Lavia this summer, because he’s someone more likely to be able to hit the ground running.”
It will be interesting to see what happens next with Thuram, who could surely be a tempting option for other big clubs around Europe.
The 22-year-old is the son of French World Cup winner Lilian Thuram, as well as the brother of Marcus Thuram, who has just joined Inter Milan – more on that from Johnson here.