Moretto: Newcastle ‘really appreciate’ Milan defender but a big offer is needed | OneFootball

Newcastle United are big admirers of Malick Thiaw and are considering a move for him but they have financial hurdles to jump over first, a journalist has claimed.

Fabrizio Romano reported late last night that Newcastle and Milan were ‘in contact’ on Wednesday to discuss possible opportunities and there were two defenders that seemed to emerge in the talks, namely Thiaw and Kieran Tripper. Fikayo Tomori was not talked about, despite the recent links.

According to the latest from Matteo Moretto of Relevo, Newcastle ‘really appreciate’ Thiaw and consider him a potential reinforcement for the defence, regardless of whether the inclusion of a player as a counterpart is possible.

In the last few hours, the name of Trippier was discussed internally at Milan, also because Financial Fair Play issues dictate that the Magpies need to sell players before the end of the month, but the idea hasn’t taken off. Newcastle want €6-8m for the full-back, who is 33 years of age.

The Newcastle-Thiaw operation could begin to develop from 1 July, with the German on a shortlist of names that are ‘very welcome’ to the Premier League club. Fabrizio Romano adds that it would ‘take an important proposal’ to sign Thiaw from Milan.