Malick Thiaw made his Milan debut in the win over Hellas Verona and he immediately made a strong impression on his new club.
The 21-year-old German defender joined the Rossoneri in the summer from Schalke 04 in a deal worth around €7m, adding another talented youngster to Stefano Pioli’s squad. He’s struggled to break into the first team but was finally given the chance in the final 10 minutes of Milan’s clash with Hellas Verona.
As highlighted by Corriere della Sera, Thiaw immediately proved his defensive qualities on his brief Milan debut, making two key stops to stop Hellas Verona netting a late equaliser.
The German defender cleared a ball off the line, made two blocks, two clearances and won an aerial duel in his seven minutes on the pitch, giving Pioli good signs during a busy period.
Thiaw will be hoping that his strong impression will see him receive more regular playing time in the coming weeks.
Easy for a kid to go and hide or lack personality when thrown into a difficult game. Instead, he showed he had balls and positional awareness to make a big difference.
Did exactly what he was put on to do, very impressive in that regard. Pioli deserves credit too, for seeing what was happening and shoring up the defence
Maldini’s type of player. Without fail.