Transfer guru Fabrizio Romano has played down reports linking Liverpool midfielder Thiago Alcantara with a return to his boyhood club Barcelona, saying the player is happy to stay in England for the season.
Barcelona Linked With Liverpool Midfield Ace Thiago
Since Barcelona midfielder Gavi picked up a long-term injury earlier in November, many central midfielders have been linked with a move to Catalonia. According to some reports, Liverpool maestro Thiago is one such person of interest.
The former Spain international graduated from Barcelona’s La Masia academy before playing for the senior team for a couple of years. He left the club for Bayern Munich in 2013 and has been linked with a return numerous times over the last decade. Neither Barca nor Thiago have yet pushed to make it happen.
Fabrizio Romano Does Not Think The Thiago-Barcelona Deal Is In The Works
In his Daily Briefing column, Romano played down the links, saying that Barcelona were focused on bringing Vitor Roque while Thiago had not shown any desire to leave Anfield.
The Italian journalist said (via CaughtOffside):
“I’ve had some fans asking me about stories involving Thiago Alcantara and a surprise potential return to Barcelona this January. Of course we know that Barca are now short in midfield after the lengthy injury to Gavi, but it’s too early to know if they’re going to replace him, or who they could target.
“With Thiago, I’m not aware of concrete talks with Barca so far. As I previously reported, Barca’s priority is to register Vitor Roque before deciding on the midfielder situation. For now there are no changes, and no concrete developments on how to act with replacing Gavi.”
He concluded by adding:
“It’s also worth remembering that Thiago said no to Saudi clubs in July as he wanted to stay at Liverpool. As far as I’m aware there has been no change to his situation since then.”
Thiago, who has yet to play this season due to fitness issues, has been at Anfield since September 2020. He has so far played 97 games for the club in all competitions, scoring thrice and providing six assists. His contract with the Reds runs out in June 2024.
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