Barcelona have recently been heavily linked to France international and Borussia M'Gladbach star Marcus Thuram.
As an avid Bundesliga follower, I'm glad to break down potential advantages and drawbacks of his possible summer move.
PROs
He would arrive for free
Borussia's sporting director has recently confirmed that Thuram will leave them for free in the summer.
Despite his primary role, the 25-year-old is only 4th on Gladbach's highest-paid-player list. If he joins, Joan Laporta would likely have no problem in fitting the player's wages in Barca's new salary cap.
He would be a decent backup for Lewandowski
Following Memphis Depay's winter exit, we actually don't have any natural 'nines' on the team. Ferran Torres is used there rarely, Ansu Fati is more of a left winger these days, so acquiring one makes sense.
Despite effectively playing as a left winger in his first years at Gladbach, Marcus Thuram has completely transformed into a striker whose main task is scoring goals – and he's doing it quite well lately.
He could be a quality impact sub
Let's imagine a second-half scenario in which Xavi's team are winning but allowing the opposition to keep the ball and create chances. Robert Lewandowski is tired and barely useful at counterattacking play, so a fresher forward is needed.
Marcus Thuram would not really be useful at defending in this case; however, he would surely add some pace to the frontline and carry the ball forward trying to win a foul or go for a goal.
Compared to other strikers in the European top 5 leagues, Thuram is really solid at carrying the ball and beating his opponents.
Stats via Fbref
CONs
He is too injury-prone
Below is the breakdown of his injuries in the last 3 seasons. Looks worrying.
What's more, it usually takes some time for him to regain form after he recovers from an injury – in this sense, he is quite similar to Ansu Fati for whom it's a big concern too.
He is no longer very pacy
While watching him play, one may feel that Marcus' recurring injuries really affected his speed attributes.
Instead of just breaking away from the opposition defenders, Thuram often prefers to lower the tempo a bit, trying to draw a foul or look for a pass option – even at times when playing simpler seems a better choice.
He is not too good off the ball
Thuram may seem quite lazy at pressing the opposition defenders – this would be a problem if he wanted to succeed on Xavi's team that plays highly-intensive football.
Compared to other attackers in Europe's top 5 leagues, the Frenchman is below par at defending as well.
