Malick Thiaw: “Since joining Milan, I’ve become more mature and have taken on more responsibility.”

AC Milan's Malick Thiaw, the young German defender who has establishe himself as a start, has granted an interview to SportBild. Here are his words:

"Sometimes I have to pinch myself to realize how fast everything has gone. It's like a dream. From a sporting perspective, the change has been enormous. The transition from Düsseldorf to Milan wasn't so drastic: from one big city to another... It's the first time I'm away from my parents and my siblings, I live here with my partner for the first time. In the beginning, everything was new and difficult, especially due to the language barrier. But the club has experts for every aspect of life who help. Now I know my teammates well, we do things together in our free time. I feel good, the city is a dream, the people are very kind."

On his improvement since joining Milan:

"I've become more mature, taken on more responsibility. I'm more honest with myself, even self-critical. Getting to know such a big club like AC Milan has been incredible. I only knew the club from playing on PlayStation: as a child, I played with Milan and Ronaldinho on 'Pro Evolution Soccer.' When I first wore the Milan jersey with the logo during medical checks, I almost couldn't believe it. At that moment, I was incredibly proud and happy. I immediately took a selfie."

On which Milan legend he admired, Thiaw said:

"I've always liked Kevin-Prince Boateng's style and way of playing. In general, I have to say: it took me a few days or weeks to really understand that I was playing in Milan."

On Zlatan Ibrahimovic:

"It seems like I'm asked every day what he's like. Zlatan was the second person to talk to me at Milan. The team had a game, I was in the weights room, on the bike. Zlatan came up to me there. Even though I'm tall, he was still much taller and broader than me. It was an intense moment. I wasn't afraid of Zlatan, but I respected him. I was happy to share the dressing room with one of the greatest personalities in world football in recent decades. He said, 'Welcome.'"

On the experience in last year's Champions League:

"I was called up to the team only for the knockout stage. And that's where it all began for me, with the match against Tottenham and Harry Kane. When I heard the Champions League anthem for the first time at San Siro, I got chills all over my body and I just thought: wow! I'm extremely grateful to be able to experience all this. The home game was incredible – starting, in the Champions League, against Kane. The match went very well for me. From then on, I knew what the Champions League truly was."

On the challenge against Kane:

"We kept him and the team under control, he didn't score or assist a goal. Personally, Kane as an opponent is very calm, there was no trash talking."

On the secrets of the Italian defensive school:

"At Schalke, I learned a lot in the 'Knappenschmiede' with Norbert Elgert. After that, I tried to learn on my own, for example, by studying other players. I thought I was very intelligent in this sense and knew a lot. Then I came to Italy and quickly realized I had a lot more to improve. Italians are very strict, very meticulous. It doesn't matter if you've had 15 good games: they will always find something you can do better. We don't just play with the Italian style at Milan. However, our team loves defending. Fans applaud defensive actions like goals. Therefore, defense is trained almost obsessively. We discuss every detail with the coaches, for example, that I should stay closer to the opponent."

On role models:

"Not exactly, because I only became a central defender at 17-18 years old. Before that, I was a defensive midfielder. Yaya Touré always fascinated me in that role. He was robust, muscular, with a good shot, yet everything seemed very easy."

Thiaw his debut in the senior national team:

"It was incredible when the anthem played and I was on the field. I was a bit nervous, but mostly happy. So far, it's the peak of my career. Despite the defeat, my performance went quite well. The coach praised me for my performances. He recently called me to wish me a happy birthday."

On his relationship with Antonio Rudiger:

"Toni is like an older brother to me. He welcomed me well from the start, quickly became a friend, and he's simply an extremely honest and authentic character. He gave me a lot of advice. Toni also went abroad at the beginning, to Italy. During our trip to the United States with Milan, we met Toni and Real Madrid. We exchanged jerseys, I will hang Toni's jersey at my home."

On the home European Championship:

"Yes, the home European Championship is my biggest goal. As a footballer, of course, you want to play as much as possible – it's obviously my dream with the national team. But for me, every call-up is already something very special. That's why I have to keep working hard every day at Milan", said Thiaw.

On the importance of religion:

"I'm a Muslim, I grew up believing and came into contact with religion early on. I pray five times a day, observe Ramadan. My religion gives me extreme strength."

On his language skills:

"I speak Finnish fluently because it was spoken at home along with German. I speak a little Wolof. I communicated with my father and my brothers more often in German. And currently, I'm learning Italian."