Khephren Thuram-Ulien (Reggio Emilia, 2001)has the name of ‘pharaoh’and acts as such. The son of Lilian and brother of Marcus Thuram became in the leader of a Nice who remains unbeaten (8 wins and 4 draws) since Didier Digard’s arrival on the benchand who claims to be the only representative of Ligue 1 still alive in Europe: He reached the quarter-finals of the Conference League after knocking out Sheriff.
In Europe, in fact, Khéphren’s journey began. Thierry Henry made his Champions League debut for Monaco in 2018 against Atlético. He was 17 years and eight months old and dreamed of imitating his brother Marcus, then at Guingamp. “My brother is an example. I’m not saying I want to follow the same path because I have to draw my own, but playing in Ligue 1, like him, is my goal”he acknowledged.
From a football point of view, they have nothing to do. One is extreme and the other is true box-to-box. “He’s technical, fast and measures two more heads [supera el 1,90 m.] that the others”, Marcus underlined referring to Khéphren, who, since his debut, had clear references: “I admire Pogba a lot and also Vieira, my father tells me a lot about him.”
His great season with Nice – he has two goals and eight assists in 38 games – did not go unnoticed by Didier Deschamps. Khéphren is the big new addition to France’s squad, alongside Wesley Fofana (Chelsea) and Brice Samba (Lens). He can, therefore, begin to follow in his father Lilian’s footsteps (142 appearances/2 goals) and his brother Mark (9 appearances/0 goals) with ‘the blues’.
Khéphren radiated joy. “It was a very good day. They called me up for the senior team and we qualified for the quarter-finals of the conference, so I’m very happy.”recognized ‘Canal +’.
“I am very proud. It is the result of the work I have done. It is a child’s dream to be summoned to France with my brother, but it must be even stronger for my parents My first phone call after hearing the news was, in fact, for my father and my brother,” continued the ‘todocampista’ from Nice.
It would be, if confirmed, the first time that Marcus and Khéphren play together. “We played for the same teams, but we never played for the same team. Together we only played in the garden at home. Let’s hope it happens, it would be fantastic”, continued the ‘box to box’ of a Nice who for the first time since 1960 planted themselves in the quarter-finals of a European competition.
The freedom that Didier Digard grants him has positively influenced his emergence: “I’m free because the coach has a lot of faith in me, but if he asks me to play further back, in a more defensive position, I’ll do it.” Khéphren feels that his ‘roof’ hasn’t arrived yet: “I want to keep growing. It would be a shame to stop here. I work every day to progress as much as possible”.
