Udinese’s Florian Thauvin (31) has revealed his frustration at being ignored by the big clubs in Europe when he left Olympique de Marseille in 2021, with the Frenchman eventually agreeing to join Mexican side Tigres UANL.
Speaking to TNT Sports, Thauvin points to the fact that he had multiple successful seasons at Marseille, and in 2018 while representing the club became a World Cup winner. In 2021, with his contract expiring there was an expectation on the part of the player that clubs would be interested in signing him as a free agent.
However, despite his situation, none of the big European clubs were interested in acquiring the forward, and instead, he opted for a surprising move to Liga MX where he reunited with former Marseille teammate André-Pierre Gignac (38).
Florian Thauvin on continual transfer snubs
“Should I have gone to a big club? Definitely. I think I deserved it.” Thauvin explains, “I had three seasons with over 15 goals, the same with assists, and sometimes I was well above that threshold. But it didn’t happen.”
“What I achieved for three consecutive seasons, some players did for only six months before moving to big clubs. I was consistent, a French international, a World Champion… But it didn’t happen,” Thauvin states.
A situation that continued when Tigres terminated his contract in 2023, “The only thing that hurt me was that after spending nine years in Ligue 1 and performing well, no one reached out to me when I returned from Mexico. That’s something I didn’t find normal. And it was really hard to digest.”
GFFN | Nick Hartland
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