Florian Thauvin: Scout Report

Florian Thauvin is a French footballer who currently plays for French Ligue 1 club LOSC Lille. He joined in the January transfer window from SC Bastia, and is currently loaned back until the end of the season. He can play as a centre or left midfielder, but is capable of playing in other positions.

Profile

Florian Thauvin was born on 26 January, 1993 in (20 years old as of April 2013) Orleans, France. Orleans is city in north-central France, about 130 kilometres (81 mi) southwest of Paris. For a fact, New Orleans in the United States of America is named after it. As all the passionate kids out there, they love football from a very young age. He signed up at local club Ingre in 2000 at age of 7. He stayed there for around 5 years and left in 2005 at age of 12. He instantly impressed and was taken by sixth division club FCO Saint-Jean-de-la-Ruelle. He played there for around 2 years before leaving at age of 14 in 2007 to local club US Orleans. US Orleans is the best club in the Loiret department and was a massive honour for the 14-year old. US Orleans were in the 4th division – Championnat de France amateur (CFA) at that time,and it was a helpful climb in Thauvin’s career. In the 1 year he spent with the club, he attracted interest from the Championatt National, with several teams scouting the young player.

[Photo: via www.gf38.fr]

Thauvin decided to stay in the CFA and joined Grenoble who were able to capture him in 2008. It was the first time Thauvin had to move cities, leaving Orleans behind. Grenoble helped players like Gael Danic, Laurent Courtois, Youri Djorkaeff, and more develop. Thauvin appeared for Grenoble’s youth team for two years before signing his professional contract in 2010. He made the right choice joining Grenoble as they were promoted to Ligue 2 in 2011. He made his professional debut on 11 March 2011 in a 1–1 league draw with Vannes. He appeared three times that season, and had multiple offers from other Ligue 2 clubs. Grenoble was relegated to the Championatt National, before they endured financial difficulties and got sent to the CFA. On 7 July, they went into liquidation and couldn’t participate in the CFA, being sent to 5th division CFA 2. Thauvin wasn’t expected to stay with a CFA 2 club, and decided to pick Ligue 2 club SC Bastia from his list on a free transfer. Moving on national wise, he was called up to France U-18 in 2010 appearing in 2 International friendlies.

Soccer Wiki Profile

It was an exciting challenge for Florian Thauvin who was getting football with a freshly promoted SC Bastia. It was time for Thauvin to head to the Ligue 1 and appeared 13 times, promoting SC Bastia with a 1st place finish. That season, he played in the Coupe de France, and was called up to France U-19 appearing twice in international friendlies. He wasn’t the main striker last season with the likes of Toifilou Maoulida and Jérôme Rothen, but this season he is SC Bastia’s front man. With Thauvin and Wahbi Khazri, SC Bastia has been excelling this season. Florian Thauvin has proved his potential and is a goalscoring machine. In his most recent form he scored 8 goals in 4 matches. He also got called up to France U-20 scoring 1 goal in 5 matches. In total so far, he scored 9 goals and assisted 2 in 27 matches and is being followed by several European clubs. He was smart enough to stay in France, and joined LOSC Lille in the recent January transfer window. (On loan with SC Bastia until the end of the season)

Florian Thauvin featured in our list of 100 Best Young Players to Watch-out for in 2014. He was at #6 in our list of midfielders. See the entire list here.

Style, Strengths and Weaknesses

Florian Thauvin is what people are calling in France, “In the top 3 most exciting prospects of France”. He is a pure example of a French youth product growing into this world at such a young age. France’s development is one of the best around the world, as they raise young players into world class material. Thauvin is a fast-paced player – if you unleash him on a counter-attack, he won’t disappoint you. Watching him several times throughout the season, he seems to be all over the place. He runs all over the midfield, and is a very energetic player. When he plays, you feel his passion for the club and passion for success. He is SC Bastia’s star at the moment, knowing how to provide positions for attackers to score goals. He may have raw attributes, and hasn’t fully developed at age of 20, but he has major potential. He may be one of the best in a couple of years, and any European team would love to have him.

Thauvin’s strengths include dribbling and finishing – both superb attributes for the France U-20 international. You put him in front of the goal, and he won’t disappoint you with his excellent accuracy. He loves to play short passes, as he plays on the left or in the centre. He is weak in long shots, but loves to cross the ball from the left. Thauvin is part of the newer generation who loves to cut in and take a shot, something teams are looking for these days. He doesn’t dive into tackles and is an indirect set-piece threat. He is also often fouled, due to his pacy runs and the threat he offers.

I have also noticed that he can score with both feet scoring 2 from his right and 5 from his left. If you take his goals out from this season, SC Bastia would lose 6 points as he always clinches important goals. The only problem is that he can’t keep hold of the ball as his body structure is light. He isn’t a towering midfielder that terrorizes everyone with his physicality but with experience he can deal with it.  Thauvin tries to improve his aerial duels because when he does take part in them, he isn’t always the best with an average of 46% in winning aerial duels.  In 27 total appearances he created 25 chances, has a 50% shot accuracy and a 69% percent average pass accuracy.