Presented to Tigers supporters on Friday, Florian Thauvin spread his ambitions to come with the Mexican club. “I'm going to try to do the same things that Gignac did here, he's already a legend in Mexico. Gignac will help me, he will give me advice to adapt quickly, ”said the 28-year-old striker, who left Olympique de Marseille, his club since 2013, for Monterrey, where his compatriot André plays. -Pierre Gignac since 2015.
"I am ready for the requirement, in France and Marseille there is a lot of pressure, it is the French club with the most pressure, I have the experience and the maturity for that", assured the French international (10 caps, 1 goal) during a press conference given almost entirely in very clear and fluent Spanish for a quarter of an hour.
Gignac has already described to him the passion that drives the Clasico du Nord between the Tigers and Monterrey.
"He told me a lot about this clasico, I can not wait to see how we live it, I will do my best so that the supporters are proud of me", said "Flotov".
I have the ambition to return to the France team
Florian Thauvin
"I have the objective of returning to the France team, it is very difficult, because there are now the best players in the world in the selection, but I think I can do it", also argued the world champion, who has 10 selections (3 starts) and a goal with the Blues.
Gignac himself had returned to the national team to compete in Euro-2016 when he was already playing for the Tigers.
Fireworks and mariachis
Thauvin, who has signed more than 80 goals and 60 assists in nearly 300 matches with OM, no doubt hoped that an important club in a major league would take advantage of his status as a free player to make him a good offer, sporting and financial, but this was unlikely to be the case. His failed experience at Newcastle - six months in 2015, the only ones spent away from OM since 2013 - could have weighed, but the last two seasons too. A serious injury to his right ankle deprived him of the entire 2019-2020 financial year and the past season has not entirely dispelled the doubts.
Received Thursday in Monterrey like a rock star, the Orléanais met the supporters the next day in the Universitario stadium. "The people are very kind. Sometimes in France the supporters are not, it's difficult for me to say it because I'm French, ”he said. The presentation to local fans was made with great fanfare, between fireworks, mariachis music and a tour of the field with accolades and autographs for the Frenchman wearing the yellow and blue jersey of the Tigers flocked with his number 26, which he already wore at OM.
Thauvin was also in contact for about twenty minutes with the supporters from the center of the field, using a microphone. He told them how his name was pronounced, and they sang it in chorus. Welcome messages from his new teammates, who are in pre-season training at the seaside resort of Playa del Carmen (East), were broadcast on the giant screen of the stadium. "My buddy, come with the sneakers on, because we're going to run quite a bit, we're waiting for you here, man," Argentine goalkeeper Nahuel Guzman told him, for example. Thauvin will join his team this Saturday, coached by Mexican Miguel Herrera, who led the Mexican selection in the round of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
