According to the Daily Mail, Premier League clubs Chelsea and Liverpool are interested in Monaco youngster Khephren Thuram. If the surname sounds familiar, that’s because he is in fact the son of France legend Lilian Thuram.
Liverpool and Chelsea eye up move for Lilian Thuram's son, Khephren, who could be available at a cut-price with the midfielder yet to sign a professional contract at Monaco | @Matt_Barlow_DM https://t.co/rN6bC3IxQE pic.twitter.com/2oCqf1g8UM
— MailOnline Sport (@MailSport) February 20, 2019
Unlike his famous father, Khephren is a midfielder rather than a defender, but is apparently quite talented and is one of Monaco’s “most-prized” youth players. But in a familiar twist, he has not yet agreed to sign a professional contract, despite turning 18 next month. So now the rest of Europe is ready to “swoop in” or at least are claimed to be ready to do so, which will certainly be helpful in contract negotiations the kid may engage in with one team or another. Classic bit of agenting, really.
That said, Chelsea have (seemingly) started to move away slowly from the Emenalo-model of buying up as many youth prospects as possible for the Loan Army, though we’ve not fully become self-reliant in that department (we might have to quickly if FIFA institute their proposed new loan rules and/or Chelsea get hit with a transfer ban). Incidentally, Emenalo’s attempt to establish his system at Monaco has gone quite badly this season, though he seems to have survived while the head coach (Thierry Henry) and now the CEO (Vadim Vasilyev) have both been sacked.