Schalke refused to cash in on Malick Thiaw during the January transfer window despite interest from Premier League giants Liverpool, Everton and West Ham United, sporting director Rouven Schroder tells WAZ.
Schalke, a working class club down on their luck, find themselves in a difficult position.
Relegated from the Bundesliga for the first time in 55 years last season, the 2011 Champions League semi-finalists are desperate to escape the nettles and the reeds and return to greener surroundings.
As such, they were willing to overlook a difficult financial predicament and retain the services of a young defender who’s started every one of their 20 Bundesliga.2 matches.
Will Malick Thiaw ever sign for Liverpool?
“We had a clear position. The player belongs to us and has a contract,” says Schroder.
“Malick is a very important building block for us.”
Head coach Dimitrios Grammozis, who’s guided Schalke to fourth in the table, was delighted to learn that Thiaw would be staying put.
Liverpool have been linked in recent weeks, as have Merseyside neighbours Everton (Sport1).
According to Tuttomercatoweb, West Ham had expressed their interest too. Not to mention Italian giants AC Milan.
And while Thiaw is all-but guaranteed to leave eventually, a transfer can wait. For Schalke, nothing but promotion is good enough this season.
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