Marcus Thuram

[IM21]

Pedulla is saying it will be a 30M + bonuses deal.

 

[PHM1605]

Yeah, I agree. Something I haven't seen since Kondogbia Lukaku

Fixed.

 

[IM21]

DiMarzio - Gladbach wants 30M, Inter offering 20M. Marotta doesnt want to spend over 30M.


Its nice that we got almost 200M from this transfer window, but cant spend over 40M. Love it.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1428465259711397888

https://twitter.com/x/status/1428465479459348483

 

[RickyMaravilla'sRightFoot]

I feel like the price will be a bit lower than expected since we will surely have to pay the Raiola tax.

 

[thatdude]

Him not previously playing much as a striker doesn’t bother me. There are plenty of good strikers who started their careers as wingers (Aubameyang, Griezmann, Mertens). In general across many central positions there are players who started out on the flank and became top class after moving to the center of the pitch (Ramos, Schweinsteiger, etc).

If anything playing out wide has probably helped him develop his technical ability a bit more. He’s got the physique of a striker. The inconsistency is a bit worrying but he doesn’t actually have bad numbers for a winger. Clinical finishing would be my question because honestly I’ve really only watched him vs Inter. However the other facets of the game can be learned. You know who else couldn’t play with their back to goal when they showed up? Lukaku. You know who’s never been a clinical finisher in his career? Dzeko.

Players are basically always developing until their bodies start to regress, 24 years old is a good age for a position switch. He also has the perfect person to learn from in Dzeko. I think this is a good gamble.

 

[Inter7]

Says he was born in Parma does he hold an Italian passport?

 

[alvaro]

Lets hope this goes through and in 5 years time, and after plenty of Thuram goals, we can wonder what might have happened if Zapata didn't get injured.

 

[IM21]

Gds - Inter offer Thuram a 5 year contract with 3.5M salary and are ready to pay 25M to Gladbach.

 

[ciamac]

Just watched some highlights of him, looks like Nwankwo Kanu on steroids. Me gusta!
Way better than other options we're being linked with imo.

 

[Universe]

Pedulla is saying it will be a 30M + bonuses deal.

like 12 hours ago: "Monchengladbach ask for 30 but Inter make encouraging progress for €25m deal"

 

[Black Knight]

Says he was born in Parma does he hold an Italian passport?

I'd assume so, but even if not, his dad's French, so he's EU anyway.

 

[rockball]

Him not previously playing much as a striker doesn’t bother me. There are plenty of good strikers who started their careers as wingers (Aubameyang, Griezmann, Mertens). In general across many central positions there are players who started out on the flank and became top class after moving to the center of the pitch (Ramos, Schweinsteiger, etc).

Yea, that is what I was thinking as well. He looks more of a wide forward than a pure winger. In that sense, he is similar to Mertens, Sanchez, or Auba, who have all played wide but not as a pure winger. They are forwards.

 

[Il Drago]

Him not previously playing much as a striker doesn’t bother me. There are plenty of good strikers who started their careers as wingers (Aubameyang, Griezmann, Mertens). In general across many central positions there are players who started out on the flank and became top class after moving to the center of the pitch (Ramos, Schweinsteiger, etc).

If anything playing out wide has probably helped him develop his technical ability a bit more. He’s got the physique of a striker. The inconsistency is a bit worrying but he doesn’t actually have bad numbers for a winger. Clinical finishing would be my question because honestly I’ve really only watched him vs Inter. However the other facets of the game can be learned. You know who else couldn’t play with their back to goal when they showed up? Lukaku. You know who’s never been a clinical finisher in his career? Dzeko.

Players are basically always developing until their bodies start to regress, 24 years old is a good age for a position switch. He also has the perfect person to learn from in Dzeko. I think this is a good gamble.

You could add Keita Balde in the list who was turned from an inconsistent winger to a very efficient secondary striker under Inzaghi. And that's what makes me optimistic about this deal.

like 12 hours ago: "Monchengladbach ask for 30 but Inter make encouraging progress for €25m deal"

Pedulla was always talking about a 30m deal for Thuram while Di Marzio claims deal could close for 25m.

Tbh i don't really trust Pedulla on this. When Di Marzio talked about Thuram Pedulla took a dig at him (as usual) by saying there's only Zapata for Inter and he was the last to report Thuram as a target yesterday afternoon.

 

[DARi0]

Obviously money should have been invested into Vlahovic but hey... Inter is not for everyone.

Marcus seems to have potential and looked dangerous whenever I saw him. I believe it makes more sense to make this kind of investment than to give in to Lotito/Atalanta.

gds - The distance between the requests of Gladbach and Inter's offer has been reduced.

Aaaaand it goes str8 into Raiola`s pocket.

Says he was born in Parma does he hold an Italian passport?

Correct. He already has double citizenship:

France

Guadeloupe

EU so it`s fine for us + club can benefit of the Growth decree: €4M net wages only weigh around €6M gross to the club.

 

[ElDuccio]

Have to say that he's still better then Zapata and Correa. Zapata looks already like a done player and is never 40M worth. Between Correa and Thuram, i pick Thuram probably. They are diffrent players but Thuram is 3 years younger and personally i think he showed something more then Correa in he's career. Let's also not forget that we are getting him for arround 25-30M, much less then what Lotito ask for he's player.

 

[sdvroot]

 

[rfU]

Him not previously playing much as a striker doesn’t bother me. There are plenty of good strikers who started their careers as wingers (Aubameyang, Griezmann, Mertens). In general across many central positions there are players who started out on the flank and became top class after moving to the center of the pitch (Ramos, Schweinsteiger, etc).

If anything playing out wide has probably helped him develop his technical ability a bit more. He’s got the physique of a striker. The inconsistency is a bit worrying but he doesn’t actually have bad numbers for a winger. Clinical finishing would be my question because honestly I’ve really only watched him vs Inter. However the other facets of the game can be learned. You know who else couldn’t play with their back to goal when they showed up? Lukaku. You know who’s never been a clinical finisher in his career? Dzeko.

Players are basically always developing until their bodies start to regress, 24 years old is a good age for a position switch. He also has the perfect person to learn from in Dzeko. I think this is a good gamble.

You're making uncorrelated comparisons, the aforementioned players had relatively high IQ, watch Thuram and you see he doesn't have that awareness or intelligence in terms of movement, when to pass, when to hold up play, when to shoot, etc. This is what separates a highly talented player like Felipe Anderson from a far less skilled and slower Thomas Muller. They're certain skillsets that can't be taught or learned and it has to do with game IQ, i guess they're inborn and honed over time. Lukaku was effective for us, more of a battering ram, point him in the right direction and he can be devastating, but notice against high IQ defenders he would be "dominated" time and time again.

It's possible Inzaghi can get the best of Thuram and use him with devastating effect against minnows in the same way Conte used Lukaku (although I'm doubtful), but don't compare him to the likes of Griezmann, Mertens, Ramos, etc. they're not comparable in any way.

 

[qb4ever_2k]

You're making uncorrelated comparisons, the aforementioned players had relatively high IQ, watch Thuram and you see he doesn't have that awareness or intelligence in terms of movement, when to pass, when to hold up play, when to shoot, etc. This is what separates a highly talented player like Felipe Anderson from a far less skilled and slower Thomas Muller. They're certain skillsets that can't be taught or learned and it has to do with game IQ, i guess they're inborn and honed over time. Lukaku was effective for us, more of a battering ram, point him in the right direction and he can be devastating, but notice against high IQ defenders he would be "dominated" time and time again.

It's possible Inzaghi can get the best of Thuram and use him with devastating effect against minnows in the same way Conte used Lukaku (although I'm doubtful), but don't compare him to the likes of Griezmann, Mertens, Ramos, etc. they're not comparable in any way.

But then how can you measure a player's potential IQ?

Was Mertens a highly talented low IQ ball hogging winger for most of his career until Napoli sold Higuain and were forced to move in to the middle, and everything just clicked?

How would you rate Lautaro's IQ in his first season here? I remember him looked slow, weak, rash and didn't know anything other than shoot. Then suddenly we found him cutting through Dortmund and Barca's defense with ease. Then he went toe to toe with other great strikers in the league in term of goals?

Or Brozovic, what kind of performance could we expect of him when Spaletti moved him to regista given his perceived low IQ at the time?

Then look at the other side of the spectrum, we have players like Coutinho, Dybala or James who looked like the biggest brains on earth when they could play their favorite positions. But once you move them elsewhere, they're completely clueless, washed up. Where did their IQ just go?

With all these examples, is footballing IQ even a thing or is it just to term people assign to players to explain their unexplained abilities to play in certain ways? And if IQ is real, is it transferable to other positions on the pitch or is it specific to some styles of play?

 

[morrisama]

better option than Duvan or Correa. he has more end product unlike Zapata who improves due to Gasperini tactics. more versatile than Correa. and above all with more reasonable price.

at least we cant expect him to score goals beside Lautaro and Dzeko.

 

[YoramG]

But then how can you measure a player's potential IQ?

Was Mertens a highly talented low IQ ball hogging winger for most of his career until Napoli sold Higuain and were forced to move in to the middle, and everything just clicked?

How would you rate Lautaro's IQ in his first season here? I remember him looked slow, weak, rash and didn't know anything other than shoot. Then suddenly we found him cutting through Dortmund and Barca's defense with ease. Then he went toe to toe with other great strikers in the league in term of goals?

Or Brozovic, what kind of performance could we expect of him when Spaletti moved him to regista given his perceived low IQ at the time?

Then look at the other side of the spectrum, we have players like Coutinho, Dybala or James who looked like the biggest brains on earth when they could play their favorite positions. But once you move them elsewhere, they're completely clueless, washed up. Where did their IQ just go?

With all these examples, is footballing IQ even a thing or is it just to term people assign to players to explain their unexplained abilities to play in certain ways? And if IQ is real, is it transferable to other positions on the pitch or is it specific to some styles of play?

Really interesting points.

To me, it feels like a "feeling" you get when watching a player. For example, when I watch Vlahovic I can tell from the way he moves, finishes chances, creates decoy runs, waits to release a pass, that he's got it, whatever that is. On the other end of the spectrum (in terms of playing style), there's traffic cop Cambiasso - he sees everything on the pitch, and if he had had the legs for it he could have played every position with success. Both (IMO) have very high footballing IQ, but express it in different ways.

I think so much of it comes from experience. You mentioned Lautaro, and are absolutely right, his footballing IQ seems to be improving season by season. When he first came here he looked like he barely knew when or how to pass, but more and more he's picking up the ball and launching these cross-field passes that I couldn't even spot on a TV or absolutely spinning defenders with simple body feints. So is it innate, or is it something you develop?

Look at Chiellini, that old bastard - He can barely run these days but there was barely a peep from Lukaku or Kane at the euros. Dzeko is the same, the way he plays is just clever, there's no other real word for it.

As for Thuram, I'm not convinced he's particularly got a high footballing IQ atm, can look quite clumsy and disjointed from my limited viewing. But then again, Brozovic is a stone cold cretin but he's possibly the 'smartest footballer' on the team.