Thiago Alcantara of Liverpool is one of Barcelona’s top targets as they attempt to strengthen their midfield in the next summer.
ESPN said that Xavi Hernandez wants two players for the defensive midfield position because he believes Oriol Romeu needs some competition at the base of the midfield.
However, Barcelona’s financial situation prevents them from affording to enter the market and acquire high-priced players. Players who are either unsigned or in the final year of their contract must be signed by the Blaugrana.
Barca may be interested in signing Joshua Kimmich, but the Catalan powerhouses have also nominated other midfielders, including Thiago, Jorginho of Arsenal, and Guido Rodriguez of Real Betis.
Thiago has yet to play a single game for the Reds this season and is now out due to injury. The 32-year-old advanced through Barcelona’s youth ranks, making 100 appearances for the team before transferring to Bayern Munich in 2013.
Perhaps Thiago will depart
In 2020, the Spaniard made his debut for the Reds, and he will soon make his 100th appearance for the team. He is a fantastic midfielder, and Jordan Henderson has called him “phenomenal” in the past.
“He’s a phenomenal player, and hopefully he can just keep improving each time he plays for us and getting used to the way that we play as a team,” said the former Reds skipper, back in 2021.
In 2024, Thiago’s £200k per week contract expires, and it’s likely that Liverpool will let him leave. In the summer, there were rumours that he would join Turkish clubs, but Jurgen Klopp believed that with Henderson and Fabinho gone, the team needed him.
Liverpool has signed a number of new midfielders, and they will likely aim to add one or two more in the upcoming transfer windows. Thiago would undoubtedly be attracted to rejoin his old team as well, thus a transfer might be in the works.