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Marcus Thuram: out from under his father’s shadow to star in his own right
Marcus Thuram has always carried a surname that haunts and helps in equal measure. The son of Lilian Thuram – one of France’s great defenders and an icon of world football – Marcus arrived in pro football assigned a pedigree before he’d proven a thing.
What he has done since is quietly, insistently reframe the conversation: this is a forward whose game belongs to him alone.
He has spoken about carving out his identity, and the arc from Sochaux through Guingamp and Borussia Monchengladbach to Inter Milan has been a study in temperament and refinement rather than mere lineage.
The early chapters in France and Germany were about raw power and potential. At Gladbach, Thuram learned to combine physical presence with a surprising lateral agility – an attacker who could hold up play and also chase channels. That duality is what convinced Inter to move for him on a free transfer in the summer of 2023, a gamble that has paid off handsomely for a club seeking a forward with both edge and intelligence.
The move, simple on paper, signalled that Thuram was ready to be measured by his own standards.
Numbers have followed the eye test. In Serie A action during his first season with Inter (2023-24), Thuram finished with 13 league goals and seven assists, a return that underlined his capacity to both finish and create from attacking midfield and wide positions. He carried that form into 2024-25, improving to 14 league goals – adding four assists – while broadening his influence in the Champions League and domestic cups.
Those totals reflect a striker no longer content to be a peripheral power-runner; he is a consistent match-winner.
But statistics are only the scaffolding. What has changed is the polish on Thuram’s instincts. At Inter he has learned positional nuance – how to stagger runs with a partner, when to drop and when to explode into the box – and how to press without collapsing the front line.
@Inter
Improving link-up with Lautaro Martinez, Thuram’s movement forces defences to choose between two real threats. In tight European nights and the frenetic pace of the Serie A calendar, that reliability has made him one of the most feared forwards in the continent’s more pragmatic leagues.
The 2025-26 campaign has started hot. Thuram has opened the season with three Serie A goals and an assist in six appearances, a quick contribution that has helped keep Inter in the title conversation as the fixture list tightens toward the derby fixtures.
His early-season form will be judged more brutally on Sunday, when Inter face AC Milan in the Derby della Madonnina – a game that has a habit of defining seasons and reputations. For Thuram, it is another chance to show that the surname is a footnote and the performances are the headline.
There is a pleasing symmetry to Thuram’s rise: a player who might once have been measured against a father’s defensive legend has become, in his own right, a forward who blends thunder with craft.
His story is not about stepping out of a shadow so much as choosing the light he wants to stand in – and spotlights don’t get much brighter than the one that will shine on the San Siro on Sunday.
How to watch Serie A on DAZN
Witness how the 2025/26 Serie A unfolds with all 380 games live on DAZN in the UK & Ireland, and in the US in Spanish language. For more information and to sign up to watch, click here .
You can watch Serie A via the DAZN App, available on smart TVs, phones, tablets, streaming devices, games consoles, and web browsers.
If you do not have the App already, then just follow these instructions....
- Download the free DAZN App from your normal App store on your TV, phone, tablet, or streaming device
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- Select 'Get started' or 'log in'
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