Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal and Newcastle United are likely to have busy summers on the transfer front.
Tottenham will be eager to strengthen their ranks in wake of a difficult season that has seen them in the lower reaches of the Premier League table.
Meanwhile, Arsenal are shining in the Champions League but will likely want to reinforce so they can challenge on multiple fronts.
Newcastle are enjoying a great end to the season and will fancy their chances of Champions League qualification.
Most of their centre-back options are above 30 years of age, so they’ll likely want to sign new centre-backs with a view to the future.
All three clubs have been linked with a 23-year-old defender likened to Sergio Ramos who could cost as little as £22million this summer.
The player in question is Malick Thiaw, who has been a regular for AC Milan this season and has also been capped for Germany.
Arsenal, Tottenham, Newcastle and Nottingham Forest are ‘monitoring the situation’ of the player, according to Calciomercato.it.
However, they will be up against Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen, who are said to have already come forward for the 23-year-old.
Thiaw is a ‘main candidate’ to leave Milan in the next few months and they want a fee of €25-30million (£21.5-25.7million) to sell him, added the report.
TBR Football chief correspondent Graeme Bailey recently confirmed that Newcastle, Spurs and West Ham United are all circling around Thiaw.
Thiaw is not unhappy at Milan, but whoever is coach at the club next season is key for Thiaw’s future, TBR Football sources understand.
Head coach Sergio Conceicao has had a difficult season, with the club currently ninth in the Serie A table.
What Malick Thiaw could bring to the Premier League
Thiaw has shown great quality and superb potential over the past few years, suggesting he could now be ready for a big move to the Premier League.
In 2023, BILD deemed Thiaw one of the ‘greatest talents in Europe’ and, at just 23 years of age, he already has 83 Milan appearances to his name, plus three Germany caps.
The AC Milan website ran a ‘six things to know about Thiaw’ article after he joined, and they noted how has been compared to Sergio Ramos and Joel Matip.
As per Sempremilan, Thiaw’s one-on-one ability is good, while his ‘ball reading and tactical understanding is of the highest quality’.
In addition, his height and physicality make Thiaw a threat in terms of aerial duels, plus he’s ‘deceptively quick’, proactive in terms of pressing, and a decent passer.