Nagelsmann brands Thiaw a ‘great’ player who ‘still needs to improve’ | OneFootball

Germany head coach Julian Nagelsmann has spoken about AC Milan defender Malick Thiaw, labelling him as a ‘great’ player.

It has been an interesting last couple of seasons for Thiaw, who missed two and a half months due to a myotendinous injury in 2023-24. Once he returned, he was no longer the same and it meant that it did not go down as a positive campaign in his career.

The 2024-25 season did not begin much better as he struggled against Torino then suffered a sprained ankle that made him miss three games – Lazio, Venezia, Liverpool – while Matteo Gabbia impressed.

Nonetheless, he has since been given opportunities and has done well, most notably in the game against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu in which a collective defensive effort was needed to secure a 3-1 win.

Nagelsmann spoke at a press conference for the match against Bosnia and Herzegovina which Germany won 7-0, and he was asked about the inclusions of Malick Thiaw, Yann Bisseck and Nicolas Kühn.

“We are focusing on all German players. Malick has been with the national team before but has been out for quite some time recently,” he said (via PianetaMilan).

“I think both he and Bisseck are great players who still need to improve on some things. Kühn is also a good player with a lot of desire. He’s someone we’re keeping an eye on. But calling up a new player always means excluding another.”