‘He’s Burned Out’ – Regis Le Bris Rejected Taking Florian Thauvin To Lorient | OneFootball

Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images

Former Newcastle United star Florian Thauvin was offered to Lorient when Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris was in charge, but he rejected the chance to sign the Frenchman, feeling the 33-year-old was ‘burnt out’.

The attacking midfielder talent played for lower-league French sides before joining Marseille, where he massively impressed.

Back in 2015, the Magpies were impressed with his pedigree and signed the left-footed attacker, which saw Remy Cabella join the Ligue 1 giants.

Thauvin later revealed that Premier League giants Arsenal were also keen on him, but his time in England did not go as planned, as he scored only once in 16 official appearances for Newcastle.

However, in the 2016/17 season, Newcastle were in the Championship, and he went back to Marseille after failing to meet expectations at St. James’ Park.

Thauvin was part of France’s World Cup-winning side in 2018 and played close to 300 games for Les Olympiens, directly contributing to 150 goals in that period.

After leaving the Stade Velodrome outfit, though, he had a two-season struggle at Mexican side Tigres UANL, where he played in 38 games in two years.

And now, it has been emerged that current Black Cats boss Le Bris, when he was at Les Merlus, rejected the chance to sign Thauvin.

“Florian Thauvin had been proposed to Coach Le Bris through an agent who called the shots at Lorient”, French journalist Mohamed Toubache-Ter posted on X.

“Coach Regis Le Bris didn’t even look at it: he’s burned out, he was on vacation in Mexico, not Ligue 1 level, doesn’t interest me.”

The ex-Newcastle man, though, got his career back on track with his impressive spell at Udinese, where he contributed to 25 goals in 73 games.

Thauvin was recalled to the French national team last summer after a six-year absence and even scored against Azerbaijan.

The 33-year-old had a brilliant last season with Ligue 1 side Lens, as he scored 14 goals and made ten assists in 37 games across all competitions, but Le Bris will not lose any sleep over his decision not to go for him.

The French boss got Sunderland promoted and finished in a Europa League position last term, seeing them place five places over Thauvin’s former side in the Premier League table.