Nice’s Khéphren Thuram has not completely enjoyed the 2023/24 season he’d have envisioned and aimed for at the start of the campaign in terms of assist numbers as well as game time, with the 22-year-old Reggio Emilia-born France international having been sidelined with an injury for a period around the winter break.
Nevertheless, the exciting young midfielder remains “priceless” in the eyes of his club’s sporting director, Florent Ghisolfi, according to the Nice transfer specialist in a recent interview with Nice-Matin.
In that interview, Ghisolfi explained that Thuram remains one of Europe’s most creative central midfielders with excellent potential, and he views “the content of his matches” as having been satisfactory this term, beyond surface-level statistics.
The term “priceless” is an eye-catching one, given Nice held on for dear life in order to retain Thuram’s services beyond the summer transfer window, with the likes of EPL giants Liverpool said to have been circling with keen interest.
Still, the time may come in the future when Nice are tasked with replacing the midfielder — and when that time comes, Ghisolfi and his club’s recruitment department will need to have a plan in place to keep the squad as strong as possible, even without their “priceless” asset.
Similarly, for clubs interested in a player of Thuram’s profile, it’s clear that it’ll take a hefty fee in order to prise the man himself out of Allianz Riviera.
Those clubs may need to have alternative options in mind, despite the rare nature of the midfielder’s profile, in case it proves impossible to get the 22-year-old midfielder’s signature on a contract to play in their kit.
In this recruitment analysis piece, we’ll put ourselves in Florent Ghisolfi’s shoes and provide some insight into three players we feel may have caught the Nice sporting director’s eye if he were drawing up a little list of players who have something of a similar profile to Khéphren Thuram using data, statistics, and video analysis.
Firstly, it must be noted that, yes, Ghisolfi is right, and Thuram is a rare breed of footballer.
Nevertheless, no player is completely irreplaceable, and we think the three players we’ve decided to highlight in this scout report all bear at least some of the characteristics that would be necessary to adequately perform Thuram’s role within Les Aiglons’ tactical setup without losing too much of what the France international brings.
So, let’s get on with it, then!
What Would Florent Ghisolfi Do?
Firstly, if we’re putting ourselves in the shoes of Florent Ghisolfi, it may be worth briefly laying out what could be expected of the Nice transfer specialist.
OGC Nice recruited Ghisolfi in October 2022, following a summer transfer window in 2022 that was highly scrutinized in Alpes-Maritimes as being somewhat scattergun and ultimately ineffective at strengthening the squad.
Before joining Nice, Ghisolfi was Lens’ sports coordinator and is highly praised for his contributions to Lens’ meteoric rise from Ligue 2 to the top half of Ligue 1.
Ghisolfi is credited with playing a significant role in the recruitment that saw the likes of Jonathan Clauss (signed for free, sold for €7.5m), Seko Fofana (signed for €8.5m, sold for €25m), Loïc Badé (signed for free, sold for €17m) and Loïs Openda (signed for €15.39m, sold for €38.5m), to name a handful, all join Les Sang et Or and contribute to the club’s growth massively both on the pitch and in the transfer fees they ultimately commanded on their departures.
Ghisolfi has signed plenty of promising youngsters with potential — like Badé — but has also signed players in their prime with less scope for resale.
However, he has clearly got an excellent eye for undervalued stars capable of quickly adapting to the squad and environment of his club, allowing them to show the best of themselves for long enough that they become highly desirable assets — as was the case with Clauss and Fofana.
As a result, we didn’t specifically look for youth in our search, but also considered prime players with value.
Similarly, while Ghisolfi’s main area of expertise is, of course, France, he has found some excellent value in a variety of other markets.
Each of the three players we’ve selected for this analysis piece is from a different set of search parameters, specifically in terms of region, to provide three different options, not in terms of profile, but in terms of level and place of origin.
Khéphren Thuram Scouting Report
Furthermore, in order to understand why we’ve selected the three players we have, it’s also imperative to have an understanding of what Khéphren Thuram himself brings to the table.
Let’s take a look at the profile of Nice’s desirable asset in this section of the analysis.
Thuram is an attacking ‘8’ who offers Nice plenty of attributes both on and off the ball.
However, he really stands out for his playmaking and ball-carrying abilities.
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