In this morning's edition of La Repubblica newspaper, there is some space dedicated to Malick Thiaw's mixed fortunes. The towering defender, who turned in a virtuoso display on a memorable London evening, was also one of the architects of the defence's downfall in yesterday's Serie A clash against Salernitana.
Alas, the German national team's head coach reportedly thinks that Thiaw remains too raw to make the step up to senior national team. Hansi Flick, in fact,, is determined to offer his star centre-back, Antonio Rudiger, some respite. In a calculated move, Flick has set his sights on summoning Southampton's emerging prodigy, Bella-Kotchap, to his national squad, instead of the Malick Thiaw.
