Premier League flop advised to put on go well with to video games turned up in tuxedo in ‘absolute shame’
A Premier League flop was once branded an ‘absolute disgrace’ after turning up to a game wearing a tuxedo despite being told to wear a suit by his manager
Florian Thauvin turned up to a Newcastle game wearing a tuxedo(Image: Stu Forster, Getty Images)
Premier League flop Florian Thauvin endured a nightmare stint at Newcastle, and to sum up his woeful time in English football, his most remembered moment is his bizarre pre-match attire.
Thauvin and fellow Newcastle team-mate Chancel Mbemba came under fire after turning up to a home match at St James’ Park wearing a full tuxedo during the Magpies’ relegation scrap in the 2015/16 season.
The Frenchman, who has resurrected his career in France since, celebrates his 33rd birthday today (January 26). He arrived in lavish evening attire after being instructed to wear suits for the visit of Watford in September. Thauvin had only signed for Newcastle the month before in a £15million move, and his performances on the pitch certainly wouldn’t win the fans back.
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Despite his outfit worth dropping him alone for, his form ultimately did that as he played 88 minutes of the 2-1 defeat against Watford.
It would prove to be his last start for the club before he was shipped back out on loan to Marseille in January for the remainder of the season. Newcastle would be relegated at the end of the season under Rafa Benitez after he replaced Steve McClaren in March.
Newcastle legend Alan Shear ripped into the young Frenchman on Match of the Day, slamming: “He turns up in a tux. This is a serious business we’re in here, it was funny on the first day of the season, it’s not funny anymore.
“Look at [Allan] Nyom run past Thauvin. You might be able to do that in the French league, you can’t do that in the Premier League.”
Thauvin was also slammed by pundits on Sky Sports’ Sunday Supplement, where he was branded “an absolute disgrace” by The Telegraph’s Matt Law.
Law also claimed that Newcastle as an institution were “just rotten” and argued that players arriving in tuxedos was “taking the mickey” out of United’s loyal fanbase.
The 13-time France international went on to extend his loan at Marseille for the following season before a permanent exit was agreed.
He later proved his doubters in England wrong when he scored at least 15 Ligue 1 goals in three consecutive seasons, including 26 goals and 17 assists in all competitions in the 2017/18 campaign, earning him a place in Les Bleus victorious World Cup squad.
Thauvin is still in Ligue 1 with RC Lens where he has twice been named the league’s Player of the Month this season, in September and November.
