Julian Nagelsmann speaks about why Malick Thiaw was called up for Germany after two year absence
Malick Thiaw has probably been Newcastle United's best signing of the summer, or at least he's up there with Nick Woltemade.
We'd probably say Thiaw gets the title, though, as while Woltemade as scored some big goals and we absolutely love watching him on the ball, he spends large periods of the game completely missing - through no fault of his own, mind, it's simply a case of the team not playing to his strengths.
Thiaw, meanwhile, got thrown into the side when Fabian Schar was forced to miss a couple of games with concussion and hasn't looked back since.
Even when the team are playing poorly, Thiaw manages to keep Newcastle in the game with some stunning and perfectly timed tackles.
Julian Nagelsmann says Malick Thiaw deserves his Germany recall
Malick Thiaw's last appearance for Germany was two years ago in a friendly against Mexico and that was just his third cap, but he's back in the international frame thanks to a recall by Julian Nagelsmann.
It would have been criminal if he was overlooked again given how good he has been for Newcastle this season and now Nagelsmann has spoken about Thiaw's recall.
“Malick has stabilised and is doing very well as a regular starter at Newcastle. He wasn't with us for a long time, partly because he hadn't played much in Milan for six months. He deserves to be back.”
Malick Thiaw has two chances to break into the Germany starting lineup
We'll have to wait and see if Thiaw will be granted a place in the starting lineup on Friday when they take on Luxembourg or Monday when they face Slovakia, or whether he'll have to make do with substitute appearances.
It would be a shame if he didn't get used at all. We can't imagine there are many other defenders in the Germany squad in better form that Thiaw.
Saying that, we know that form rarely matters when it comes to international selection. Or is just England managers that pick favourites?
