You can't miss him on the pitch: tall, long strides, and having a brilliant season, Khephren Thuram is in his third year in the red-and-black shirt, but how well do you know the France U21 international?

HE PLAYED AT BARÇA

It's 2006 and his dad, Lilian Thuram, is coming to the end of his immense career at Barcelona where Khephren — wearing a blaugrana shirt — got to play with some of the world's best footballers such as Thierry Henry, Samuel Eto'o, Ronaldinho and Lionel Messi. At just five years old, he wasn't only chasing the ball. "It wasn't really football, I ran around everywhere…," he admitted. He's learned a thing or two since then.

AS A KID HE SPOKE ENGLISH BEST! 

Born in Italy and then living in Spain, Khephren's teenage years started in Paris, and it was there that he says he "really" started to play football. He studied Spanish and knows some Italian, but his first words were in English. Why? He studied at Marymount, the famous American school based in the French capital. In classes, he spoke in English with just 45 minutes of French a week outside of the family home.

BASKETBALL LOVE

His American education had an influence outside the classroom, and he played basketball tournaments with his school. Taller than his classmates, he played point guard, dictating the team's play and tempo. If he hadn't made it as a footballer, 'KT's' dream was to play 'ball.

He also played volleyball at school, and futsal for AC Boulogne-Billancourt, training once a week as well as playing in tournaments.

FORMER FORWARD… 

Thuram has scored five goals in 72 games since arriving at Nice, including two in his last two appearances. That harks back to when he started when he played left-wing or centre-forward. At 12 years old, he played with players a year older than him and became a midfielder like his idol Paul Pogba, a position he honed at INF Clairefontaine during the week and with AC Boulogne-Billancourt where he played at the weekend. 

He actually moved back further up the field at Monaco where he continued his development. He played left-wing in the Youth League and made his first team debut as a centre-forward. Versatile, he played centre-back under Christophe Galtier last summer with the coach keen for him to be "confronted with challenges", as he described it.

CELINE, BIOGRAPHY AND PHOTOGRAPHY

"People think we always listen to rap before games, but no. Sometimes I listen to Celine Dion…" A big fan of the Canadian superstar, Khephren often prepares his matches with her songs as the soundtrack. He likes to read with the biographies of Kobe Bryant and Johan Cruyff among the latest books while he has recently purchased a high-end camera to take snaps in his two favourite places in Nice: Rauba Capeu and the castle hill…