Why Liverpool would be better off avoiding a move for Malick Thiaw
According to Express, Liverpool have been in contact with Malick Thiaw of Schalke. It was also reported that the Reds were interested in his teammate Ozan Kabak. The former was linked with Liverpool back in March this year. The club have been forced into the market with Virgil Van Dijk facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines after an ACL injury.
Profile
Malick Thiaw is a 19-year-old German defender who plays for Bundesliga side Schalke 04. He started his youth career at TV Kalkum-Wittlaer in 2006 but moved to Fortuna Dusseldorf after three years. The German also spent time in the youth academies of Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Moenchengladbach.
Finally, he settled in at Schalke in 2015. He was promoted to the U-17s in 2017 and went on to make 23 appearances for them, scoring and assisting 2 goals each. Within one season, he was again promoted to the U-19s.
At that level, he spent two seasons, appearing in 52 games scoring 9 goals and assisting 3 (source – Transfermarkt). Occasionally, he was called up to the senior side while he was still a part of the U-19s. He was promoted to the first-team at the start of this season. So far, he has made 7 appearances, scoring once.
Liverpool don’t need Malick Thiaw
It’s safe to say Liverpool’s defensive crisis has been overblown beyond proportion. Yes, Van Dijk’s ACL injury rules him out for the season. While Matip and Fabinho were injured, they are very likely to be back within a short time.
In their absence, Rhys Williams and Nathaniel Phillips have been thrown into the deep end and they have emerged successfully. These two have taken turns in the league and Europe to shore up the defence alongside Joe Gomez and performed rather well, easing the whole situation.
It would have been understandable if Liverpool were going for a more established and experienced centre-back but signing another youngster isn’t what they should do. With Williams and Phillips, they also have Sepp van den Berg waiting to break into the first-team.
Malick Thiaw is one of the best emerging centre-backs in Germany but he wouldn’t benefit from a move to Liverpool. Matip and Fabinho are just temporary absentees and Van Dijk will also return eventually.
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With the whole situation being exaggerated, it is easy to see why Liverpool are being linked with any centre-back under the sun. However, the problem isn’t as bad as it seems and things are well within control. Liverpool can look to pass up the chance to sign Thiaw at this point.
