In the wake of Liverpool ending their pursuit of Borussia Dortmund and England superstar Jude Bellingham in April, OGC Nice midfielder Khephren Thuram's name first appeared as one linked with a move to the Reds.
And in late May those rumours became more prominent as L'Equipe and other French publications reported that Liverpool had discussed the signing of Lilian Thuram's second son.
As it stands, the Reds have lost lose Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Naby Keita and James Milner already this summer. Meanwhile, Arthur Melo's underwhelming stint on Merseyside was brought to a merciful end when he returned to Juventus, with Liverpool having no desire to turn his loan stay into a permanent one despite a pre-agreed fee with the Serie A giants.
Liverpool's priority right now is to sign Brighton's Alexis Mac Allister, but other recruits will be necessary and Thuram, at 22, fits the bill.
After Thiago Alcantara celebrated his 32nd birthday in April, and with Jordan Henderson set to turn 33 during the off-season, Jurgen Klopp knows the influence of both the Spaniard and his long-serving captain will dwindle in the campaigns ahead and now he must act swiftly to reduce the average age and mileage of his current options with a handful of new additions.
Too, the recent tactical ploy involving Trent Alexander-Arnold, which sees the No.66 move into a more central position when in possession, has placed further importance on a need for mobility next term, with Ibrahima Konate and Henderson the two players currently tasked with covering the right-back's vacant space.
Indeed, Konate's importance to Liverpool has grown with the use of the tactic.
But with the Frenchman suffering from a string of muscle injuries this term, it is likely that the Liverpool manager will not be able to rest his hopes entirely on his new look 3-2-2-3 formation in the years ahead and will therefore continue to plan for this summer window as initially intended despite Alexander-Arnold's recent blossom.
Thuram is the latest player to be considered by outgoing sporting director Julian Ward and recent arrival Jorg Schmadtke ahead of an active summer on the red half of Merseyside. And pleasingly for Liverpool, the potential arrival of the son of 1998 World Cup winner Lillian, on the face of it, could see the return of a much-desired attribute to the Anfield ranks: durability.
Remarkably, across all three of Nice's competitions this season - Ligue 1, Europa Conference League and Coupe de France - Thuram has been involved in 48 matches. In fact, the 22-year-old has started all but eight games for both of the club's managers this term, with such outstanding numbers boosted by four outings across various age groups for France's national team.
Robustness is a luxury Liverpool have been unable to boast since Gini Wijnaldum's departure in the summer of 2021, and the following two seasons have seen Harvey Elliott, Curtis Jones, Thiago, Henderson, Arthur, Keita and Stefan Bajcetic miss a considerable chunk of the footballing calendar due to injuries of varying degrees.
After losing just three of their 16 Ligue 1 games in 2023 and embarking on a 12-match unbeaten run from mid-January to April, the Allianz Riviera outfit have been one of Ligue 1's most eye-catching sides in 2023.
Such an outstanding set of results have come as a consequence of caretaker boss Didier Digard favouring a 4-3-3 formation since the turn of the year, with Thuram primarily deployed on the left-hand side of a midfield trio; a position Thiago would usually operate in for the Reds.
And while a small collection of metrics would indeed highlight that the former Bayern Munich star and the Nice youngster are completely different operators and therefore any talk of becoming Thiago's long-term replacement should be squashed immediately, Thuram's more mobile methods could allow Liverpool to shore up their engine room in the years ahead if the next step of Alexander-Arnold's Anfield tale is to seem him become the Reds' chief midfield architect.
Standing at just shy of 6ft 3in, the new France senior international has impressed as a ball-carrying midfield this term and has notched two goals and eight assists across his 48 appearances in all competitions.
According to Fbref, he has made the most interceptions out of all the out-and-out midfielders at Nice this season (34), and the second-highest number of tackles (18). In fact, only Thiago (4.70) and James Milner (3.98) boast a higher tackles + interceptions average per 90 than Thuram (3.24).
Such statistics make it no surprise that Manchester City, Real Madrid and Barcelona have all been credited with an interest, with Fbref ranking Thuram in the 98th and 93rd percentile of the top-five European leagues over the last 365 days for progressive carries (3.34) and successful take-ons (1.60).
Speaking to the Telegraph recently, Thuram remained coy on his future, admitting: “The most important thing is to be the best version of myself. As a man, as a football player. I don’t know exactly where that is going to take me but I want to be the best version of myself."
While unsure of where the following stages of his novice career may take him, one thing that is for certain after four incredible years on the French Riviera is that Thuram won't be short of suitors come the summer months despite having two years left on his current deal.
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