Newcastle star Florian Thauvin reveals how his karate moves saved him from attackers during attempted mugging

NEWCASTLE UNITED star Florian Thauvin has revealed he fought off two thieves with karate moves as they attempted to steal his car and watch.

As SunSport reported earlier, the attack on the 23-year-old occurred on Monday evening after the men on motorbikes crashed into his vehicle forcing him to step out of the driving seat and onto the road.

Thauvin, who is currently on a season-long loan at Marseille, was then strangled from behind, claims French newspaper La Provence.

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They attempted to take his watch, believed to worth around £22,000, but he was able to struggle free and escape the scene.

Thauvin revealed that he ‘pulled out a few karate moves’ to escape his attackers and told L’Equipe he was "a bit shocked" at the time "but happy to have good reflexes".

He added that after breaking free and running away with the attackers chasing him, he heard one shout to the other ‘Get the gun out’, though he was too busy making his escape to know for sure whether or not they had a gun.

He has been one of Marseille’s best performers this season and has scored three times in twelve Ligue 1 appearances.

His return to the Stade Velodrome in August came after a disastrous six-month spell with Newcastle.

Thauvin made just three Premier League starts as he struggled to adapt to life in the north east following his £12million move from Marseille and initially returned to his former side in January.

After making his intentions to leave clear to Rafa Benitez following the Magpies’’ relegation, he turned down a switch to Lazio in order to return to the south of France.

He is expected to trigger a clause in the loan deal to make to move permanent at the end of the season.