Malick Thiaw shares huge contributing factor to his decision to join Newcastle United
Malick Thiaw has been a revelation since he replaced Fabian Schar in the Newcastle United lineup after the Swiss star picked up a concussion.
Thiaw was thrown into the middle of Newcastle's defence alongside Sven Botman, and the German hasn't looked back, putting in some absolutely world-class displays.
He's currently leading our Player of the Match poll after his sensational turn against Manchester City on Saturday, which saw him hold the best striker in the world, Erling Haaland, in his pocket for 90 minutes.
His tackle to stop Haaland in his tracks in the second half was worthy of its own highlight video alone.
Sandro Tonali's Instagram was a big factor in Malick Thiaw's decision to join Newcastle United
Thiaw's arrival on Tyneside this summer brought to an end a year-long pursuit for the 24-year-old, and we're all seeing now why Eddie Howe was so relentless. In Saturday's matchday programme (h/t Newcastle World), Thiaw spoke about one of the big reasons he knew Newcastle was the right club - the Carabao Cup celebrations in the city.
“I follow Sandro Tonali on social media. I saw it was crazy. When I came here, I saw more images, it was incredible. How many people, 300,000? Wow. Incredible. I saw the picture when all the fans were on the car park to see the team.
“When you look throughout my career, I played for two traditional clubs. Obviously, I wanted to continue in this way/ When I saw Newcastle - I knew already they were traditional and had big fans. But of course, when you see a picture like this and see how loved the players are, obviously it played a role in my decision.”
Malick Thiaw is the new Jonathan Woodgate
The bar most Newcastle fans of a particular age set for a top defender is Jonathan Woodgate; it's a comparison we made with Sven Botman at the peak of his powers before his injuries, but we honestly feel that Thiaw is looking like the new gold standard.
It's still early day, of course, but if we get a full season from Thiaw at this level, then he's clearly surpassed Woodgate, who was a tremendous defender, but his fitness was Callum Wilsonian levels of bad.
How many defenders can say they kept Erling Haaland quiet for 90 minutes? I bet you can count them on one hand.
