Thauvin unfazed by expectation at Newcastle

Florian Thauvin will make his Premier League debut at Old Trafford on Saturday.

The French forward was unveiled to the press at the club’s training ground this afternoon.

Newcastle believe that Thauvin will be a better fit for McClaren system than Cabella, who was barely used by former boss Alan Pardew and never made a serious impact in the Premier League. “The onus is on me to make sure I can really step up to the plate and earn my place in the team”.

Thauvin, speaking through an interpretor, has spoken at length with McClaren since arriving in the North East.

Frenchman Florian Thauvin, who has signed a five-year contract with the club, was snapped with the shirt on the twitter account of girlfriend Charlotte Pirroni, report the Newcastle Chronicle.

“When I arrived, the manager and I had a long chat”, added Thauvin, who scored 13 goals in 69 league games for Marseilles.

“He asked me to be an important player for the team”.

He said: “I’m very pleased with what we have got, very pleased”.

There is still time for that to change, with Monaco’s sought-after centre-half Aymen Abdennour regarded as a realistic option despite his hefty price tag, but with nearly £50m already having been invested, it is hard to imagine Ashley sanctioning too much more spending.

“It’s not a problem for me to have such a high price”, he said.

Thauvin has been linked with a number of Premier League clubs in recent years, but he insists apart from Newcastle, Arsenal are the only club to have approached him.

“I’m going to get some English classes arranged straight away”.

“They’ve absolutely delivered 100 per cent with the quality that we’ve got”.

Remy Cabella’s departure for Marseille will also bring in £6.5m provided the midfielder plays in sufficient matches to trigger the clause that will turn his loan deal into a permanent transfer, but even so, Newcastle can hardly be accused of parsimony this summer.