Official | Florian Thauvin joins Lens from Udinese | OneFootball

RC Lens have confirmed the signing of Florian Thauvin (32) from Udinese on a contract that will tie him to the club until 2028.

Thauvin returns to a league that he is intimately familiar with, having made 289 appearances and scored 86 goals across stints with SC Bastia and Olympique de Marseille. The 2018 World Cup winner was also on the books for Lens’s bitter rivals, Lille OSC, but strangely enough, his time with Les Dogues will likely have done him more favours in the eyes of the Lensois faithful.

The Frenchman joined Lille from Bastia midway through the 2012/13 season and was loaned immediately back to the Corsican club. In the 2013 summer transfer window, the forward then signed for Marseille in acrimonious circumstances, with Thauvin later telling Le Media Carré, “They made me look like the bad guy, but I was used as a bargaining chip. I never played for the club, and they made €10m on me.”

With Thauvin set to be the centre-piece of this new Lens attack, the Derby du Nord looks as if it will have some added spice behind it, with old wounds certain to resurface.

GFFN | Nick Hartland