Thiago Alcântara, a 33-year-old midfielder for Liverpool, is expected to leave the team on a free transfer and may be offered a position similar to one Jose Mourinho held at Barcelona.
Unfortunately, Liverpool was never able to witness Thiago Alcântara’s peak performance. The deft Spaniard made a splash upon his arrival in September 2020, having been instrumental in Bayern Munich’s Champions League triumph. Jürgen Klopp saw the midfielder as the missing element in his lineup, someone who could maintain possession of the ball in the face of pressure and turmoil.
In the end, Thiago’s Liverpool career had ups and downs but was never steady. Though he had a four-year contract, he never reached a century of games for the club due to injuries that dogged his tenure at Anfield. He was never the most physically fit of players.
At thirty-three, Thiago’s contract is about to expire in a few weeks. The former Barcelona player will undoubtedly move on and may even rejoin one of his previous teams, as has already been confirmed.
A Spanish rumor suggests that Thiago might rejoin Barcelona and play two roles. The German employer, Hansi Flick, needs a translation because he doesn’t speak Catalan or Spanish. According to AS, the plan is to have Thiago return to the club as a member of Flick’s backroom crew who can still play and make the occasional appearance.
Though Thiago doesn’t plan to stop playing altogether, he has to accept that his finest playing days are behind him considering his precarious physical condition. The role is comparable to what Jose Mourinho performed for Sir Bobby Robson at Camp Nou in the late 1990s, and former Barcelona players Marc Bartra and Javi Martinez are reportedly also in the running.
Prior to joining Benfica at the start of the new century, Mourinho served as a combination coach and translator for several seasons under Louis van Gaal and Robson.
Before joining Borussia Dortmund, Bartra played for Barcelona for six years, which is where his German language skills first began. Martinez, on the other hand, spent almost ten years playing for Bayern Munich but never for Barcelona. After four years of play for Barcelona, Thiago transferred to Bayern in the summer of 2013. Before joining Liverpool, he spent seven years living in Bavaria.
