Malick Thiaw

[John P]

26 minutes ago, Fenham Mag said:

Not in the German squad, seems a bit harsh but better for us.

Give him a season with Eddie and he'll be starting for them at the World Cup

[GeordieDazzler]

Only played 3 games for them in 2023. If he locks down a starting spot for us and we have a decent season he’s got a great chance of making the WC. Their last squad was hardly a muderer’s row of elite defenders.

 

 

 

 

 

[Erikse]

3 hours ago, r0cafella said:

We did overpay but it's alright. The overpay reference relates to Como having a deal done at 20m euro earlier in the window. 

 

25m euro. I wonder if were we looking at other centre back alternatives at the time? Maybe we saw something in him in pre season that made us pull the trigger from an uncertain position. There must be a reason that we didn't move earlier if we have followed him for a while. It's hard to tell why from the outside.

 

 

Edited October 2, 2025 by Erikse

[r0cafella]

2 minutes ago, Erikse said:

 

25m euro. I wonder if were we looking at other centre back alternatives at the time? Maybe we saw something in him in pre season that made us pull the trigger from an uncertain position. There must be a reason that we didn't move earlier if we have followed him for a while. It's hard to tell why from the outside.

 

 

 

I think we were fully focused on a striker at that tbh. Reeling from Mitchells departure and trying to figure out a structure to see us through. 

[Lush Vlad]

59 minutes ago, Lush Vlad said:

What's his chant?  Half heard it a few times now but can't make it out or what tune it is to. 

 

Just seen his song is to the tune of Bella Ciao.  I'm sure we've nicked it from another club.  But that's class  

[KaKa]

14 minutes ago, GeordieDazzler said:

Only played 3 games for them in 2023. If he locks down a starting spot for us and we have a decent season he’s got a great chance of making the WC. Their last squad was hardly a muderer’s row of elite defenders.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yeah, I think he'll break into the national team at some point this season barring any long term injury.

 

Especially as Nagelsmann will be paying much closer attention to our games now anyway, with Woltemade upfront too.

[Curva Sud Milano]

6 minutes ago, Erikse said:

 

25m euro. I wonder if were we looking at other centre back alternatives at the time? Maybe we saw something in him in pre season that made us pull the trigger from an uncertain position. There must be a reason that we didn't move earlier if we have followed him for a while. It's hard to tell why from the outside.

 

 

 

 

I just wrote this in Tonali's thread :

"Oh, about Leoni...maybe you don't know that you made an offer for him a few weeks before Liverpool's and your offer was even more generous."

[Erikse]

9 minutes ago, r0cafella said:

I think we were fully focused on a striker at that tbh. Reeling from Mitchells departure and trying to figure out a structure to see us through. 

 

Bit of a chaotic window with the circumstances for sure. Luckily, if you're right, we are just talking about 10-15m euros extra for someone who I think will be more than worth the price we paid anyways. We paid slightly above MV for all the players we bought (imo), but we make most signings look like a bargain under Howe. Meanwhile some other teams buys 80m+ players that fails massively (hello Man Utd and Chelsea), and sell them for 40m less.

[The Prophet]

Not that it matters hugely, but weren't Como given a discounted price as part of some shifty player swapping?

[r0cafella]

4 minutes ago, Erikse said:

 

Bit of a chaotic window with the circumstances for sure. Luckily, if you're right, we are just talking about 10-15m euros extra for someone who I think will be more than worth the price we paid anyways. We paid slightly above MV for all the players we bought (imo), but we make most signings look like a bargain under Howe. Meanwhile some other teams buys 80m+ players that fails massively (hello Man Utd and Chelsea), and sell them for 40m less.

Absolutely, my post back then which STM was citing wasn't a reference of future value just a statement of fact. If he comes in and does the business which it certainly looks like is the case it's all irrelevant. 

 

The markets we shop in generally mean premiums have to be paid. I've spoken before about how the transfer market has converged to the same profile of player because of PSR which has pushed prices up for that segment. 

[Erikse]

44 minutes ago, Curva Sud Milano said:

 

I just wrote this in Tonali's thread :

"Oh, about Leoni...maybe you don't know that you made an offer for him a few weeks before Liverpool's and your offer was even more generous."

 

I agree with some of the things you said the other day, but generally calling our recruitments a disaster in advance is allways a bold statement. Yesterday Elanga (who is trusted, but just getting rotated btw) started and got man of the match, while Thiaw and Woltemade looked absolutely great once again. If you look at our track record during the 4 years under the new ownership, we have barely made a single mistake on the players that we actually did buy, despite the outside noise often being critical of most of our signings. Just about every club that we compete with has made more mistakes.

 

People said we overpaid for players like Isak, Gordon, and Livramento. They said that Tonali didn't want to be here, so therefore he couldn't succeed. All of these has gone up in value by a lot. So far, everytime outsiders have been very negative about our recruitment, they end up having to eat their words. What many forget is that in nearly every case Eddie Howe gets the best out of players.

 

 

Edited October 2, 2025 by Erikse

[huss9]

1 hour ago, r0cafella said:

It's very relevant, you think Milan turn down an extra million from us and give him cheaper to someone else? 

 

The future value of what he may or may not be worth isn't relevant to fact we overpaid at the time. 

 

This isn't a complaint it is what it is at this point and obviously the conversation has moved past what we paid. 

not sure what the point of this convo is.

[sugoinufc]

what a start and what a player. I was a bit sceptic but i really like what i have seen so far. Him and Sven is hot as f...!

[Ben]

So we are replacing a class handsome bastard with another class handsome bastard, well done Howe's.

[Curva Sud Milano]

20 minutes ago, Erikse said:

 

I agree with some of the things you said the other day, but generally calling our recruitments a disaster in advance is allways a bold statement. Yesterday Elanga (who is trusted, but just getting rotated btw) started and got man of the match, while Thiaw and Woltemade looked absolutely great once again. If you look at our track record during the 4 years under the new ownership, we have barely made a single mistake on the players that we actually did buy, despite the outside noise often being critical of most of our signings. Just about every club that we compete with has made more mistakes.

 

People said we overpaid for players like Isak, Gordon, Livramento, and Hall. They said that Tonali didn't want to be here, so therefore he couldn't succeed. So far, everytime outsiders have been very negative about our recruitment, they end up having to eat their words. What many forget is that in nearly every case Eddie Howe gets the best out of players.

 

 

I understand what you're saying, and I apologize because perhaps I was a little too harsh (but I was also harshly attacked).

What I meant about Thiaw was that it was very strange that, for a player who's been closely monitored for months (as Howe revealed), a month passed between Como's offer and yours.

For Wolt I was misunderstood... perhaps due to my poor knowledge of the language. I consider him a potential phenomenon if he plays as a 10 and a good/excellent player as a 9; that's why I recommended a 4-4-1-1.

[The College Dropout]

Maybe overpaid is the wrong word. We definitely paid a premium for him and others.  It’s nearly always been worth it mind. 

[Erikse]

10 minutes ago, Curva Sud Milano said:

 

I understand what you're saying, and I apologize because perhaps I was a little too harsh (but I was also harshly attacked).

What I meant about Thiaw was that it was very strange that, for a player who's been closely monitored for months (as Howe revealed), a month passed between Como's offer and yours.

For Wolt I was misunderstood... perhaps due to my poor knowledge of the language. I consider him a potential phenomenon if he plays as a 10 and a good/excellent player as a 9; that's why I recommended a 4-4-1-1.

 

Sure, but potensially "overpaying" by 10-15m euros for someone isn't a "disaster" in my book (unless we do it often), especially not if they end up being worth more than what we paid anyways. Wolte looked very good in a 4-3-3 yesterday, linking up well with the wingers. I think that Liverpool played played 4-3-3 when Firmino was there? He made Mane and Salah look better.

 

 

Edited October 2, 2025 by Erikse

[Kanj]

It’s pretty irrelevant already, the points gained probably already justified why we spent whatever we did. He’s slotted in faster than any CB I’ve seen and already looks comfortable with the role and expectations. Hes a good ball player but my favorite thing is his speed of thought - very quick to get play moving. 

[The College Dropout]

Just now, Erikse said:

 

Sure, but potensially overpaying by 10-15m euros for someone isn't a "disaster" in my book, especially not if they end up being worth more than what we paid anyways. Wolte looked very good in a 4-3-3 yesterday, linking up well with the wingers. I think that Liverpool played played 4-3-3 when Firmino was there? He made Mane and Salah look better.

Aye this is similar to Hall. We paid a premium for potential for sure. He’s developed loads since he’s joined but if we sold him we wouldn’t get particularly close to doubling our Money. As the initial fee had a premium. 
 

Milan tripled their money on Thiaw and it seems like he wasn’t a total hit there.  The nature of our transfer policy and being a PL club makes 3x sales unlikely for 90% of our first team signings. 

[Yorkie]

There was a moment in the second half where he had the ball in space and the nearest opposition player was at least 2/3 meters away. He did a tiny feint which gained him yet more space and he advanced towards the centre circle. Was only a very minor moment but felt like one of those "men against boys" moments, to all but put the pressing attacker on his arse from yards away.

[christ]

16 hours ago, TBG said:

 

 

 

Early days, however all signs do in fact point to me being ‘in the mud’.

[Erikse]

16 hours ago, Nine said:

Hilariously at the time he was instantly labelled an overpaid ‘titus’ by far to many. 
 

Never change NO.

 

 

 

 

A couple of less good games and he's a flop again.

 

 

Edited October 2, 2025 by Erikse

[TBG]

33 minutes ago, christ said:

Early days, however all signs do in fact point to me being ‘in the mud’.

 

It was nothing personal, there was about another 40 batshit crazy takes I could've quoted.

[Fak]

35 minutes ago, christ said:

Early days, however all signs do in fact point to me being ‘in the mud’.

 

I posted similar but did cover all grounds by saying I fully expect Howe to turn him into a full international and Germany's captain.

 

You're properly fucked though.

[Kanj]

its as if nobody here ever learns. If Eddie obsesses over signing a player, and/or eventually gives his stamp of approval and the player is here, trust the man.