Thiago Alcantara came close to re-joining Barcelona after his exit from Bayern Munich this summer. Here’s why that deal never happened.
Barcelona reportedly failed with a last-gasp effort to sign Thiago Alcantara this summer. It appears Jurgen Klopp had already played his part to the maximum to stop that deal from happening.
The Reds landed their top transfer target in Thiago last month after quite some time trying to lure him to move to Anfield.
Thiago eventually joined Liverpool on a four-year deal and already showed he could be one of the top buys this summer. The midfielder showed a glimpse of what the Reds can expect from him with an impressive debut performance against Chelsea.
However, he was denied further game-time after testing positive for coronavirus. It made him unavailable for the double-header against Arsenal, as well as the shock defeat at Aston Villa.
But Thiago could have been playing for a different team altogether had Barcelona perhaps made their move earlier.
According to Fabrizio Romano, Barcelona made an ambitious last-gasp swoop to sign the player who they sold to Bayern Munich in 2013.
The report says Thiago had already made up his mind after several video calls with Klopp.
The Spaniard was apparently convinced by Klopp’s proposal, and ultimately decided to join the reigning Premier League champions.
The same source adds that Thiago was completely unsure of his future and was even close to extending his contract with Bayern Munich.
He is claimed to have said “I want to think about it, I need to talk about it with my family, I’ll update you all tomorrow.”
Twenty fours later, Thiago signed for Liverpool despite the efforts from Barcelona. The Spaniard is in line to start for Liverpool when they take on Everton at the weekend.
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