Thiago Alcantara will save Michael Edwards £35m

Thiago Alcantara will save Liverpool £35 million.

The Spanish star has been linked with a move to Merseyside this transfer window, and his arrival could help re-jig the squad.

Former Liverpool defender Stephan Warnock was talking about the transfer on The Red Agenda, The Athletic’s podcast on the club, and he discussed the issue with former Independent journalist Simon Hughes.

Hughes and Warnock chatted about the possibilities the move for Thiago Alcantara could unlock for manager Jurgen Klopp and sporting director Michael Edwards.

"Warnock said: “That £30 million isn’t only buying you a central midfielder, it’s buying you the option of moving someone into central defensive as well, who’s more than capable.“Does that almost cover two position with that buy?”"

Despite signing left-back Kostas Tsimikas, the club will still want to box clever with their money. Spending £27 million on the Spanish midfielder might sound like an outlay, but it could save them up to £35 million.

That’s the fee Liverpool have been quoted for their transfer target Ben White, who would come in as a replacement for Dejan Lovren.

But, Thiago coming in could shift Fabinho back in defence and negate the need to sign another defender.

We’ve been linked with plenty. Real Betis star Aissa Mandi is one of them, while White is said to really interest Liverpool and the scouting team.

The Brighton youngster has just finished his first campaign in the Championship and is yet to make his Premier League debut – but there’s a fair hype around him after he went through Leeds United’s second tier season without missing a single minute.

You wouldn’t automatically think of Fabinho as a defender, but he started off at the back and performed flawlessly in the role against Bayern Munich in last season’s Champions League.

"This is what Hughes focused on as he said: “I thought he was outstanding against Bayern Munich when he played centre-half at Anfield. Let’s not forget that was a really important defensive performance.“It’ll be interesting to see what Klopp thinks of that. I get the impression that he really thinks he (Fab) is the main one in the middle.”"

The Brazilian can play there, and if he did it would allow Thiago to take up his preferred role in midfield. Could it be a win, win?

Andy Robertson has featured on the left of a three for Scotland, and Hughes thinks that might be another route Klopp goes down.

"He said: “Now with Liverpool, the other thing to consider… Andy Robertson has played centre-half with Scotland in a back three at times.”"

This move would stretch the squad a little thin, but it could be the type of clever allocation of resources that makes Liverpool so well run.