Liverpool have signed Thiago from Bayern Munich.
The Spanish international was strongly linked to the Reds for a while and has now penned a long-term contract with the club.
Thiago established himself as one of the best midfielders in the world thanks to his performances for Bayern with whom he spent, winning a bunch of trophies. The 29-year-old ended his spell at the Bavarian club by helping them win the Champions League and a treble last season.
According to Sky Sports, the Reds will pay £20 million for Thiago, a fee which could rise to £25m. The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich midfielder will wear the No.6 jersey, a shirt which was previously donned by Dejan Lovren before his departure to Russia.
Upon his signing, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp told the club’s official website:
"“Great! Absolutely great. I’m really happy that it finally worked out and we could just do it. It’s very exceptional because in our situation, a lot of people around us talk constantly – ‘What are you doing? – bam, bam, bam.”"
Thiago is among the many Spanish footballers to have joined Liverpool, a list that includes Fernando Torres and Xabi Alonso among others. The Spaniard is undoubtedly a solid addition to our squad.
A sublime passer of the ball, Thiago brings a lot of flair and elegance to Liverpool’s midfield and given his quality, his transfer fee seems a bargain.
With the Spaniard’s arrival, it’ll certainly be interesting to see the midfield trio that Klopp will use. With the presence of the likes of Fabinho, Jordan Henderson, Georginio Wijnaldum and Naby Keita, the boss is bound to have a selection dilemma ahead of fixtures. However, it also gives him a variety of options to choose from.
At this moment, there is a good chance that Thiago could at the expense of Wijnaldum. Fabinho is a brilliant defensive midfielder and I highly doubt Klopp will be too eager to bench Jordan Henderson who has been in fine form along with being a great leader. Hence, the Dutchman could most likely see his starts being reduced.
While Thiago may not provide as many assists as Philippe Coutinho, his creativity might also take some of Roberto Firmino’s workload and the Brazilian could focus a bit more on finding the net than finding spaces for Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane. It will be interesting to see how the Spaniard fares at Liverpool and us fans can only hope for him to show the amount of quality he showed during his time at Bayern.
The 29-year-old will certainly not feature in this weekend’s match against Chelsea but there might be a chance of him making his debut in the Carabao Cup match against Lincoln City in the upcoming week.