Liverpool could let ‘luxury signing’ depart Anfield if he ‘wants to leave’ – journalist
Journalist Dean Jones has said that Liverpool won’t force Thiago Alcantara out of the club this summer but could let him depart if he wishes to move on.
The midfielder, who’s now into the final year of his £200,000-per-week contract at Anfield (Capology), has already rejected one offer from a Saudi Arabian club (The Athletic) and also reportedly been in discussions with Galatasaray vice-president Erden Timur over a possible move to Istanbul (Fanatik, via Sport Witness).
Jones reckons that the Reds may be open to the idea of parting with the 32-year-old if he’s presented with a proposal from elsewhere which’d be to his liking.
The journalist told GIVEMESPORT: “My understanding of the situation is Liverpool won’t force Thiago out. They are open-minded to him going if he finds a project that suits him.
“Part of the reason for that is that Thiago is one of the highest earners at Liverpool, is certainly one of the higher earners in the squad. And so, because of that, there would be benefits to moving him on, and that’s what helps them with the next stage of building the squad.
“Don’t forget, Thiago was a bit of a luxury signing and when he first came in it was a bit of a surprise even that Klopp managed to get him through the door on the terms that he did.
“But yeah, I think that we’ll start to see what offers are there for Thiago and whether he’s interested because if the player wants to leave, I think he will be allowed to.”
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It’s been reported that Thiago isn’t in any rush to move on from Liverpool and that he intends to see out the final 12 months of his current contract (The Athletic), so it’s difficult to imagine him banging down Jurgen Klopp’s door to beg for a transfer out of Anfield.
However, as Jones legitimately points out, the Spain international is the third-highest earner at the club, behind only Mo Salah and Virgil van Dijk (Capology).
That means if the Reds were to sell him this summer, they’d not only prevent losing him on a free transfer in 2024 but also free up a sizeable portion of the wage bill.
From a pragmatic perspective, they might also look at his age and injury record and believe that it’d make fiscal sense to accept any decent offers either this month or next.
Still, it shouldn’t be forgotten just how gifted a player Thiago is and the difference he makes to the team when he’s in it, and if he’s happy to give another season to Liverpool, Klopp would surely love to have such an experienced campaigner to guide the younger members of the squad.
He was quite the coup when we signed him from Bayern Munich three years ago, so he shouldn’t be shoved out the door too hastily unless the Reds are fully convinced this is the right time to let him go.
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