Striker Marcus Thuram faces a major test of his readiness for the season in today’s friendly match between Chelsea and Inter Milan.
Today’s print edition of the Milan newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, via FCInterNewsunderline the importance of this afternoon’s game, especially for the Frenchman.
Thuram was one of the last players to return to training for Inter.
This was because the 27-year-old was part of the French squad that reached the semi-finals of EURO 2024, along with his Nerazzurri teammate Benjamin Pavard.
Therefore, Thuram was entitled to a holiday after this tournament. He needed to recover from both the European Championship and the exhausting last club season.
But now Thuram has been back in training for a few weeks.
Together with his teammates, the Frenchman has been working feverishly to improve his fitness and playing strength for the start of the season, which is only a few days away.
Marcus Thuram faces a big challenge in the friendly match between Chelsea and Inter
For Thuramthe start of the season will be enormously important.
Inter will have many doubts in attack ahead of their Serie A opening match against Genoa.
Both Mehdi Taremi and Marko Arnautovic are currently recovering from injuries, so even if either of them is in the squad to face Genoa, they will not be at their best.
The same goes for Inter captain Lautaro Martinez.
The captain has done everything he can to be fit and ready for the start of Inter’s league season.
The fact is, however, that with less than two weeks of preparation time ahead of the Serie A opener, Martinez will definitely not be at his best physically.
Thus, it remains Thuram who has the decisive influence on Inter’s attack.
In Inter’s friendly defeat against Al-Ittihad, the 27-year-old did not show that he is capable of doing so.
But tonight against Chelsea, Thuram will have another chance to prove just that. The question is, can he take it?
