Sean Wright-Phillips chooses Newcastle United star as one player he’d choose to sign for Chelsea in January
· 27 November 2025, 12:00
Newcastle United are having a strange old season. Away from the absolutely shocking away form, they’ve been rock solid at home and even on the road during these defeats, they have played some fantastic football at times.
Something is missing, but we can’t put our finger on what it is. Whether it’s something in the tactics, the personnel or simply just a confidence thing, we just don’t know.
One thing we are sure about, though, is that Newcastle played a blinder when they signed Malick Thiaw from AC Milan in the summer.
The German defender has been a phenomenon since he was dropped into defence to replace the concussed Fabian Schar.
What has two thumbs and is a brick wall in Newcastle’s defence?
Sean Wright-Phillips says Malick Thiaw hasn’t had a bad game for Newcastle
Former Chelsea winger Sean Wright-Phillips has certainly noticed as he picked out Thiaw as the one player he’d sign for Chelsea in January when speaking to Best Betting Sites (h/t The Mag).
“It would be almost impossible … but if I could have anyone now, it would be Malick Thiaw from Newcastle United.
“I know he only joined from Milan in the summer, but if anyone has been watching him since his arrival, they’d know he hasn’t had a bad game yet.
“He does everything right. He reads the game well. When low crosses come into the box, he always seems to be in the right position.
“I hadn’t heard too much about him before he arrived, but since he’s arrived, he’s established himself as one of the first names on the teamsheet for Eddie Howe.
“Obviously it’s a bit cruel of me to say Chelsea need to go and buy him already, but in terms of his ability, he’s exactly what that backline needs.
“I know they need experienced defenders too, but the thing about him is that he already plays as if he’s got that experience.”
We’re glad Sean Wright-Phillips was speaking completely hypothetically
Thankfully, SWP is speaking purely hypothetically and knows that Chelsea will have more chance of knitting fog than signing Thiaw in January.
We’ve seen ‘Big Six’ pundits talk about how our players should move to their club as if they have some sort of divine right to our best players, so we appreciate Wright-Phillips acknowledging that it’s not a possibility.
We dare say that Thiaw’s value has skyrocketed in the short time he’s been in the Newcastle back line, so when the time comes, any interested club is going to have to pay substantially more than the £35 million we paid for his services. We’re thinking, double it and add your own number.
