Tottenham Hotspur are interested in a deal to bring Marcus Thuram to the Premier League in the January transfer window.
What's the talk?
That's according to Ignazio Genuardi, with the French journalist revealing in a recent post on Twitter that, despite the Borussia Mönchengladbach centre-forward believed to be willing to wait until the end of the current campaign before securing a move away from the Bundesliga side, Fabio Paratici could launch a surprise move for the 25-year-old in January.
The reporter went on to state in a further post that Gladbach would command a €20m (£17m) fee in order to sanction the striker's sale this winter, while the player himself is said to be demanding a salary of €10m (£8.5m) - roughly £163k-per-week - from a potential new suitor - with Aston Villa, Arsenal and Newcastle United also said to be keen on the France international.
Regarding Thuram's future, Genuardi said:
"Courted by a slew of European teams, Thuram could wait until next summer to pack his bags, but a surprise cannot be ruled out this winter. According to some indiscretions, Tottenham could give it a try in January.
"At the end of his contract with Gladbach, [Thuram] is also courted by Aston Villa, Arsenal and Newcastle on the English market. While the Germans could claim up to €20m this winter, the player expects a salary of around €10m (excluding bonuses)."
Absolute steal
Considering just how impressive Thuram has been for Borussia Mönchengladbach so far this season, should Paratici manage to land the centre-forward ahead of the likes of Arsenal, Villa and Newcastle in a £17m deal this winter, it would undoubtedly represent both a massive coup and an absolute steal for the Italian sporting director.
Indeed, over his 15 Bundesliga appearances in the current campaign, the £26m-rated talent has been in red-hot form going forwards, having already scored 10 goals, registered three assists and created three big chances for his teammates, in addition to taking an average of 3.7 shots - 2.0 of which have hit the target - making 0.9 key passes and completing 1.5 dribbles per game.
These returns have seen the £54k-per-week forward who Denis Zakaria dubbed "crazy" average a rather remarkable Sofascore match rating of 7.19, not only ranking him as Daniel Farke's fourth-best performer in the league but also as the joint 23rd-best player in the top flight of German football as a whole.
The 25-year-old has also caught the eye over his two outings in the DFB-Pokal this term, bagging three goals and providing his teammates with one assist, as well as taking an average of 3.0 shots - 2.5 of which have been on target - making 1.5 key passes and completing 2.5 dribbles - at a success rate of 83% - per match.
These metrics have seen the Frenchman average a simply breathtaking Sofascore match rating of 8.35, not only ranking him as Gladbach's joint-best performer in the competition but also as the joint 19th-best player in the tournament in its entirety.
Furthermore, with Thuram also more than capable of operating from the left or right wing - having played a total of 98 games from the flanks - it would very much appear as if the six-cap star would be a perfect fit for either of Antonio Conte's 3-5-2 or 3-4-3 formations at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium - as either a partner for Harry Kane up top or on the left of a front three.
As such, with the former Guingamp star clearly being a player who is incredibly deadly in the final third, able to progress the ball extremely efficiently and versatile enough to feature anywhere across a front three, landing such a talent for a fee as little as £17m would indeed look to be something of a steal for Paratici in the January transfer window.