On his day, there are not many midfielders in World football better than Thiago Alcantara, but the story of the midfielder’s Liverpool career has been his lack of availability.
Thiago is one of the smoothest footballers fans can lay eyes on with his calm demeanour on the pitch, impressive on-look passes and his overall immense technical ability. However, all that is often overshadowed by the amount of time the Spaniard spends on the sidelines through injury.
The 32-year-old managed just 28 games last season for the Reds; a lot less than the 51 Mohamed Salah featured in or even his midfield partner Fabinho, who played a total of 49.
Jurgen Klopp has added midfielders to his squad this summer and that has left many fans wondering what this could mean for Thiago – Liverpool journalist Neil Jones has an answer.
Writing in his latest exclusive column for CaughtOffside, Liverpool journalist Neil Jones believes Liverpool would be happy to get 25-30 games from Thiago this season.
Jones said: “Thiago did not feature at all for Liverpool throughout pre-season due to fitness issues and I am afraid that this is the story of the midfielder at Liverpool. Plenty of promise and real class at times, but unavailable too often. That’s not to say he cannot be an asset for Klopp this season. He’s a world-class player, and someone who I imagine would love playing with the likes of Mac Allister, Szoboszlai and Gakpo, but first and foremost he has to get fit and stay fit. If Liverpool can get 25-30 games from him this season, I think they’d shake hands on that now.”