Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe is preparing to bolster the ranks this summer with European qualification on the cards, and Borussia Mönchengladbach forward Marcus Thuram has been earmarked.
What's the latest on Marcus Thuram to Newcastle?
According to The Telegraph, Frenchman Thuram is among the names the Magpies recruitment department are considering when assessing the optimum strategy to take across the forthcoming months.
With the 27-year-old's contract in Germany set for expiry in a matter of months, there have been a whole host of outfits vying for his name, with the Toon joined in their intrigue by the likes of Aston Villa, Chelsea, Borussia Dortmund and Atletico Madrid.
The ten-cap France international has been of interest to technical director Dan Ashworth for some time now, with 90min's Graeme Bailey stating that Newcastle were "very keen" on a move before the winter transfer window.
Who could Thuram replace at Newcastle?
Thuram was beset with injury woes for much of last campaign, plundering only three goals from 23 matches as his travails were compounded by an inability to harness the requisite fitness for success.
This year, the 25-year-old has enjoyed far more fruitful fortunes, scoring 16 goals and providing six assists from 30 matches across the German Bundesliga and the DFB Pokal, with journalist Raj Chohan hailing him as "clinical" for his frontal feats.
After blitzing into life in the early phase of the campaign, scoring ten goals from 15 league clashes before the season paused for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Thuram has discernibly slowed the pace as the season has continued, though this is somewhat to be expected given the din of the speculation surrounding his future and the knowledge that his time at BORUSSIA-PARK draws to a close.
Described as a "goalscoring monster" for his offensive prowess by sports writer Robin Bairner, the £54k-per-week menace also ranks among the top 9% of forwards across Europe's big five leagues for progressive carries and the top 7% for successful take-ons per 90, as per FBref, which illustrates his knack at pushing the ball up-field and driving at defenders to bypass opposition lines.
If Howe and Ashworth succeed in swiping him up on a free, he could even be the heir to Callum Wilson's role in the Toon team, with the 31-year-old striker's contract up at the end of next season.
Wilson has scored 15 goals from just 27 matches this season, including only 18 starts, and ranks among the top 5% of positional peers across Europe for rate of goals per 90, though he doesn't rank very highly across the majority of non-goalscoring metrics, illustrating his poaching demeanour on the pitch.
Thuram boasts youth and energy where Wilson does not, and could be a "world-class" – as once heralded by Wolfsburg sporting director Marcel Schäfer – acquisition for St. James's Park, especially considering that qualifying for Europe comes with a startling increase in match action.
With the winds changing on Tyneside, Howe must act with conviction to sign a worthy successor to embody the ascension that shows little sign of slowing down.