Newcastle United will host the inaugural Sela Cup this weekend which will see Fiorentina, Villarreal and OG Nice descend upon the Toon for a two-day event.
One player that Newcastle fans, and indeed scouts, will be watching with interest will be Khephren Thruam of Nice.
The young defensive midfielder has been on Newcastle’s radar for a while and Newcastle have been flirting with the idea of making a move for the 22-year-old on several occasions according to reports.
The links connecting Newcastle with Thuram have quietened over summer
The links died down somewhat after Newcastle picked up Sandro Tonali for around £55million, and now with Harvey Barnes added to the roster too, Eddie Howe’s midfield is already looking a bit packed, so whether a move for Thuram makes sense is a different question entirely.
That doesn’t mean that we won’t be looking. Thuram is likely to play at least some part in the event this weekend so Eddie Howe and his team will be able to get a good close-up look at him in action before deciding if they should revisit their interest.
Described as a ‘hardworking‘ midfielder, Thuram would slot into that number six role that still hasn’t been filled. I’d originally thought that’s what Tonali was being brought in for, but it seems I was wrong on that one as Tonali is more of a ball-playing midfielder than a CDM.
Newcastle fans will be watching with a keen eye this weekend
If Newcastle were to go for Thuram they’d have to cough up almost as much as they did for Tonali with is fee believed to be around £52million which puts another question mark over the deal.
Liverpool are also sniffing around for Thuram so they could have people inside St James’ Park casting their eye on the youngster too.
One thing’s for sure, if he looks good this weekend there will be plenty of noise on social media suggesting we should sign him.
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