AC Milan have been left celebrating another bargain find in Malick Thiaw but things could have been very different in the summer window, a report claims.
TMW recall how Thiaw passed his latest and arguably toughest test on Sunday when he faced Atalanta striker Rasmus Hojlund, one of the hottest talents in Serie A. From 10 to 27 February – an 18-day period – Thiaw has helped Milan recover from a crisis and now looks like an undroppable starter.
Thiaw was Milan’s penultimate signing of the summer window and he was signed for just €6m from Schalke 04 on a permanent deal with a contract until 2027. However, Paolo Maldini and Ricky Massara for months had only one real target for the centre-back role: Sven Botman.
At the end of June, when the negotiation with the Rossoneri were in the final stages, the Dutch centre-back gave in to Newcastle United’s huge offer and moved to England, causing Milan to change strategy entirely and spend over €30m on Charles De Ketelaere for the playmaker role.
Despite moving for the Belgian and diverting the investment to a different role, Milan thought about signing Thiaw the day after Botman’s move to Newcastle. At the end of June, Schalke asked for €10m while two months later Milan bought him for €6m, including bonuses.
Other profiles were evaluated from Mattia Viti to Francesco Acerbi as well as Maxime Esteve and Japhet Tanganga, but when the news came through about the terms of the Thiaw deal it was closed in a few hours.
