Newcastle fans won’t believe who replaced Kylian Mbappe and scored in France’s World Cup qualifier

Add as preferred source on Google

Newcastle United have had a lot of French stars join them in previous years, with many becoming cult heroes at St. James’ Park.

Even stretching back to the 1990s, when long-haired superstar David Ginola became the first Frenchman to have featured for the Premier League club, they have since had various stars who have played for Les Bleus.

Louis Saha, Laurent Robert, Charles N’Zogbia and Sylvain Distin – the list of players who were knocking on the France door goes on.

But whilst Newcastle also had genuine capped stars such as Hatem Ben Arfa, Yohan Cabaye and Moussa Sissoko, there is one star who has recently come back into the France squad under Didier Deschamps in former star Florian Thauvin – and he even scored in the 3-0 win against Azerbaijan on Friday evening.

• READ MORE: Newcastle have just made a move which could see Anthony Elanga get even better

Newcastle flop Florian Thauvin replaced Kylian Mbappe and scored for France after five-year hiatus

Thauvin left Newcastle eight years ago having barely made a mark at the club in his short stint on Tyneside, and the 32-year-old has had a wild career since.

Having impressed at Marseille between 2013 and 2015, Newcastle opted to buy the then-young Frenchman for £15million, with former star Remy Cabella going the other way on loan.

However, Thauvin only managed 16 appearances in the first half of the campaign before being shipped back out to Marseille, and it’s there where his career took off.

So much so, that after last being called up to the national team in 2020, he earned a call-up to the national team for his strong form with current side Lens.

Replacing star man and Real Madrid striker Kylian Mbappe with just seven minutes to go, it wasn’t expected that Thauvin would be able to get enough time to showcase his abilities against Azerbaijan.

However, just two minutes into his cameo, Thauvin scored to continue an incredible journey. Controlling a cross from Theo Hernandez just outside of the six yard box, Thauvin lashed the ball into the bottom corner with his first two touches to complete a fairytale story and a 3-0 win.

With the World Cup around the corner at the end of the season, and having only made one minutes’ worth of playing time in their 2018 tournament win, France could hand Thauvin the chance of more international success this summer.

• READ MORE: German media issue verdict on Newcastle star Nick Woltemade’s ‘tough’ performance

Florian Thauvin has had incredible career after Newcastle exit and Alan Shearer criticism

Thauvin’s return to the France national team completes an incredible career path.

An unremarkable start to his professional career saw him finally move away from France to Newcastle, aged 22, before returning to Marseille.

Alan Shearer once criticised Thauvin for turning up to a Magpies match wearing a tuxedo, which Thauvin claimed to have negatively affected his performances. He said: “It is the tradition.

“But on that day, Alan Shearer violently criticised me by saying that I was making myself out to be someone that I wasn’t, even though I was not the only one wearing a bowtie.

“Why me again? I would like to be left alone.”

Away from Tyneside, Thauvin took off in his homeland, scoring an incredible 53 league goals in just three seasons in Ligue 1 between 2016 and 2019, which coincided with the majority of his France caps.

However, an ankle injury and the pandemic meant that he slowed down somewhat at the turn of the decade – and he embarked on an unusual move to the Mexican league to join Tigres in 2021.

Some uninspiring form across the Atlantic saw him return to Europe, with Italian side Udinese taking a chance on him, but it has been his summer move to Lens that has won the heart of Deschamps and his coaching staff.