Barcelona are reportedly interested in signing Liverpool midfielder Thiago Alcantara in the summer transfer window. Joan Laporta, their newly elected president, seems to be focused on extending the terms of current stars, but he has also shown interest in signing a former player.
According to an exclusive source from El Gol Digital, FC Barcelona are considering a surprise move for Thiago Alcantara.
Alcantara, who is now playing for Liverpool, was a member of La Masia’s youth academy and made 100 professional appearances for Barcelona. Unfortunately, his time with the Catalan club was short-lived. He joined Bayern Munich in 2013 reuniting with the enigmatic Pep Guardiola.
Last summer, the 29-year-old left Allianz Arena to join a Liverpool team on a high after romping to the Premier League title. Unfortunately for him, things have not gone well so far, as the player seems to have struggled to adjust to Klopp’s more aggressive style of play. He is a player who likes to hold the ball and distribute it around the pitch in his own rhythm. And with the added negative of having an unstable squad around him, Thiago has failed miserably to assert any sort of influence on the team.
In fact, his nature of play has clashed with the manner in which Klopp has asked his depleted squad to operate and many of the games he has featured in has seen Liverpool struggle to get a foothold.
Thiago Alcantara: Decent Option For Barcelona?
The Catalans seem to have earmarked the former La Masia youth graduate as a suitable replacement for Sergio Busquets. Busquets’ powers have waned considerably and he can no longer bring a sense of calm and control in midfield.
Thiago and Frenkie de Jong could therefore establish an outstanding midfield pairing if the Catalan club do succeed in their apparent attempt to complete this signing.
The 29-year-old is understandably familiar with Barcelona’s style of play and he has already excelled in such a system. But there are question marks over his availability.
But Will Liverpool Entertain Any Advances?
Even though the player might be willing to return to his former club if his struggles continue in England till the end of the season, Barcelona could face a difficult task convincing Liverpool to sell the Spaniard.
Thiago had signed a 4-year deal with Liverpool and the Reds will be in no hurry to take any decision regarding his future. In such a scenario, only a sizeable fee could see the English club engage in talks with Barcelona and given the dire financial straits the Catalan club finds itself in, it looks unlikely as of now.
Klopp does know the quality of this player and would not let him go just because of the poor run of form that they had as a team this season.
Thiago Alcantara is an instrumental player in midfield who can control the tempo of the match. He can just sit in midfield and dominate the game at his best. He has a great range of passing skills and vision to pick out the players making runs.
We feel that Jurgen Klopp is expected to swiftly strike down any advances for his struggling midfielder and will look for a better way to amalgamate the Spaniard in the team next season.