During the latest edition of the StatsBomb Transfers Podcast, analytics experts Ted Knutson and James Yorke shared their thoughts on the possibility of newly-crowned Premier League champions Liverpool making a move for Bayern Munich midfielder Thiago Alcantara.
Some recent reports have been linking Liverpool with a move for Thiago, whose contract with Bayern is currently set to expire next summer, as per Transfermarkt. Some reports have gone so far as to say that the Reds have got a place ‘reserved’ for the £43.2m-rated Spain international.
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Analytics expert Yorke discussed this potential transfer on the latest edition of the StatsBomb Transfers Podcast, where he said: “I think the general, traditional analytics view is [that] he is 29 years old, will require a large contract, potentially a large fee, has had many injuries and therefore shouldn’t be purchased by, say, Liverpool.
“I have a slightly contrary view to this, because I think when you’ve got the true elite players – and I genuinely believe Thiago is an absolute top-tier midfielder – I think you can do it once.
“You can, one time, buy that older, slightly injury-prone player and have him as part of your squad rotation and I don’t know, if you can give him a two or three-year deal and not a four-year deal then that’s better too, but there’s subtleties around this and I do like him that much as a player that I can see why Liverpool might want to just bring him in and stick him in the [Georginio] Wijnaldum slot.
“And Wijnaldum’s got a year left on his contract, same age, so is this a question of – do we get Thiago to play the Wijnaldum slot and then let Gini move? Or does it create an alternative in that slot? I don’t know.”
Who would you prefer to see in Liverpool's midfield next season?THIAGO ALCANTARA
GEORGINIO WIJNALDUM
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TIF Thoughts…
As per WhoScored, prior to Liverpool’s Premier League clash with Brighton & Hove Albion on the eighth of July, Wijnaldum has played the fifth-highest number of Premier League minutes of any Reds player this season. However, 11 other Liverpool players have earned a higher average overall rating than the Dutchman in England’s top tier.
Thiago earned an impressive 7.47 rating in the Bundesliga during the 2019/20 season, which is the same average overall rating as Liverpool’s highest-rated player in the Premier League this term – Sadio Mane.
With that in mind, as well as the fact that both players are currently 29 years old, it may be understandable why Yorke appears to be in favour of the Reds making a move for Thiago, as he could potentially provide Liverpool with a better option than Wijnaldum in midfield.