What the Italian media are saying about Malick Thiaw after his first display following Newcastle links

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Newcastle United may have to look for an alternative to Marc Guehi.

The 24-year-old is still the Magpies’ top centre-back target, but there are no guarantees that he joins Newcastle United before the transfer window closes on August 30th.

Newcastle are hopeful they can still sign Guehi, with the next few days set to be pivotal in Paul Mitchell’s pursuit of the England international.

There is a very real possibility that the Magpies will miss out on Guehi, which will force Toon officials to look elsewhere.

That could lead them to Joe Gomez, who almost signed for Newcastle amid the PSR debacle at the end of June. Joe Gomez is considering leaving Liverpool, which could give Eddie Howe a second chance to land the 27-year-old.

Newcastle could reignite interest in Malick Thiaw

The other alternative is Malick Thiaw, who was heavily linked with signing for Newcastle before interest in Guehi went public.

Howe spoke glowingly about Thiaw to the media, and Newcastle held talks with the 22-year-old’s representatives.

He could be targeted as an alternative to Guehi, although it has been reported that Thiaw would like to remain at AC Milan.

Thiaw criticised as AC Milan draw 2-2 in Serie A opener

Amid speculation over his future, Thiaw started for AC Milan at the San Siro on Saturday as they started the new Serie A season with a draw.

They were held to a 2-2 draw by Torino, with two late goals from Alvaro Morata and Noah Okafor rescuing a point for Paulo Fonseca’s side.

Milan were 2-0 down heading into the final stages of the game, and that was largely down to Thiaw.

He scored an own goal to give Torino the lead, then some lapse defending from the Germany international allowed Duvan Zapata to make it 2-0 to the away side.

It was a rough 90 minutes for Thiaw, who was heavily criticised by the Italian media for his performance.

Gazzetta dello Sport gave Thiaw a 4/10, writing: “The gallery of horrors begins with a failed anticipation on Sanabria, continues with the shocking own goal and ends with the misunderstanding with Theo on the doubling of the guests’ goal. Worrying.”

Corriere dello Sport also gave him a score of four, writing: “He inaugurates the new season in the worst possible way with a clumsy own goal, thus ruining the first half. In the second half he breaks away from Zapata’s marking and leaves him undisturbed for the doubling.”

Thiaw got a third 4/10 from Tuttosport, who wrote: “If he had to cast doubt on Fonseca, he didn’t succeed: he suffered against Sanabria, scored a clumsy own goal and at 0-2 chose to abandon Zapata and go for Ricci for no reason.”

Sempre Milan gave him a 4.5/10, writing: “Like night and day compared to his colleague [Fikayo Tomori], instinctively taking a touch when he needed to clear the ball (lacked awareness) which resulted in the own-goal. I can understand his decision on the second goal as Theo was there, but it can still be questioned so in short, it was not a positive night for him.”

It is unclear if Thiaw will be available to Newcastle

While Thiaw reflects on a tough display in a red and black shirt, Newcastle ponder which centre-back to target.

Thiaw had looked likely to arrive on Tyneside earlier this summer, only for the bid to land Marc Guehi to take centre stage. Now that deal is in the balance, which could result in a fresh approach for Thiaw.

However, it remains to be seen if he will be available. That is because his teammate Pierre Kalulu has been in talks to sign for Juventus.

If the French centre-back leaves AC Milan then Thiaw will stay where he is. Milan do not plan to sell more than one central defender before the transfer window closes this month.

That could threaten Newcastle’s chances of signing Thiaw, although it remains to be seen if Kalulu will join Juventus. He is still deciding whether or not to accept Juve’s offer, which means the door is not totally shut on Thiaw departing.