4 Ways Liverpool Could Line Up With Thiago Alcántara

Liverpool are hours away from closing the signing of Thiago Alcántara from Bayern Munich in what will be one of the club's most high-profile transfers of the Premier League era.

While the Reds have tended to rely on developing their own superstars under Jurgen Klopp and FSG, the acquisition of Thiago represents a rare deal for a genuine world-class talent in the prime of his career.

The Reds had been linked with Thiago all summer following his decision to change clubs. On Thursday, it was finally revealed that Liverpool and Bayern had agreed a fee of around £25m for the 29-year-old playmaker.

Liverpool already have an array of central midfield options at their disposal, leaving a variety of ways in which they could line up with their new high profile arrival.

1. Fabinho, Thiago, Henderson (4-3-3)

Jurgen Klopp stuck pretty religiously to his tried and tested 4-3-3 formation throughout Liverpool's title-winning campaign. This is a system Thiago frequently played in during his time under Pep Guardiola at both Barcelona and Bayern.

In this system, Thiago would be best suited to a number eight role.

This would see Fabinho maintain his position in front of the back four, and given captain Jordan Henderson's importance to the Reds, Georginio Wijnaldum would be the man to drop out of the starting XI - although his future is another conversation altogether.

Thiago has the pressing qualities needed for Klopp's regular engine room set-up but also brings and extra creativity and line-splitting passing range that has perhaps been missing.

2. Thiago, Henderson, Keita (4-3-3)

Thiago is also accustomed to playing as the deepest man in midfield, and should Klopp wish to play him in the number six role, this could see Fabinho drop out of the side.

Such a formation could potentially leave Liverpool a little bit exposed at the back, with Thiago famed for his quarterback-style, playmaking abilities, not his adeptness at singlehandedly shielding the back four.

However, while he lacks the obvious physicality of Fabinho he averaged made more tackles per game than any Liverpool player in 2019/20.

This midfield arrangement would allow for Henderson and the increasingly impressive Naby Keita to push forward more.

Even if Wijnaldum does get squeezed out this summer, the Reds still boast plenty of other options for this formation. The likes of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, James Milner and Curtis Jones all prefer to play further forward and would allow Thiago to occupy the deeper role.

3. Fabinho - Thiago; Salah - Minamino - Mane; Firmino (4-2-3-1)

In order to get the best out of Thiago in a deep-lying midfield role, Liverpool may revert to a 4-2-3-1 formation - the system that Bayern played during last season's treble-winning campaign.

This offers the Spaniard the opportunity to play in his favoured deeper midfield role, but Liverpool would not be dependent on solely him to protect the back four.

With Bayern, Thiago frequently played next to Leon Goretzka as part of a pairing, and Fabinho would be the natural fit to occupy his usual defensive midfield role in this formation for Liverpool.

Klopp did experiment with this system during Liverpool's preseason friendly victory over Blackpool, with Keita sitting alongside Fabinho.

The formation also allows for an extra attacking midfielder operating in a number 10 role. Takumi Minamino enjoyed an impressive preseason and featured there against Blackpool, while Oxlade-Chamberlain could also slot into such a role.

4. Fabinho, Thiago; Oxlade-Chamberlain; Salah, Firmino, Mane (4-2-1-3)

With Thiago thriving alongside a fellow deep lying midfield partner at Bayern and Liverpool's front three fluidity so key to their success last season, a 4-2-1-3 system allows for the best of both worlds.

Once again, Fabinho and Thiago would both operate at the base of a midfield triangle, with someone else playing further ahead of them in a number 8 role.

Could be Oxlade-Chamberlain, could be Henderson, could be Keita, could be Wijanaldum, or even Jones. As this piece demonstrates, Liverpool are already pretty well stocked in the midfield department.