Thuram has reportedly emerged as one of Inter's main candidates to partner new signing Edin Dzeko, after the departure of talisman Romelu Lukaku to Chelsea.

Atalanta striker Duvan Zapata was initially the man new manager Simone Inzaghi was chasing, though his focus has changed to the France international after being priced out of a deal for the Colombian.

Eberl is concerned that, with no Champions League football on offer this term, the Bundesliga side may lose the 24 year-old to the Italian champion.

"I can't exclude anything until the transfer window shuts, so it's all speculation so far," Eberl said. "The fact is we would be extremely reluctant to lose Marcus, so we'd do it with a heavy heart."

Since Thuram arrived from Guingamp in 2019, only five players have played more than his 80 outings for Gladbach.

In the same period, only Alassane Plea (32), Florian Neuhaus (21) and Lars Stindl (21) have created more 'big' chances, defined by Opta, than Thuram's 20, while no player has recorded as many as his 78 shots on target.

Thuram has netted 25 goals – a feat only bettered by Stindl's 29 – and provided 13 assists, meaning he is joint-second with Plea for direct goal involvements, again behind Stindl (45).

While the forward has returned impressively in front of goal, he is known as more of a winger at Borussia-Park. He leads the charts for attempted dribbles by a long way with 266, completing just over half of those – Breel Embolo in second with 199.

Eberl said: "Marcus can score even more goals than he did last season.

"He has incredible potential, power and dynamism, so Thuram can do much more. Doing it at Gladbach is certainly a good move for him."