Man City 'Willing to Outbid Liverpool' in Race for Bayern Midfielder Thiago
By Tom Gott
Liverpool may have to make a quick decision over whether they want to sign Bayern Munich midfielder Thiago Alcántara, as Manchester City are considering blowing the Reds out of the water with their own bid.
Thiago is on Jürgen Klopp's radar and is understood to be keen on moving to Anfield this summer, but Liverpool are yet to make a bid and an offer is not expected to arrive while they still have seven senior midfielders on the books - Fabinho, Naby Keïta, Georginio Wijnaldum, Jordan Henderson, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, James Milner and Curtis Jones.
Should Liverpool's situation change, they could choose to make a move for Thiago, but Sport Bild note that it might be too late as City are ready to come in and spoil the party with their own big-money offer.
Pep Guardiola is known to be a huge fan of Thiago. He was the man to bring the Spaniard to Bayern from Barcelona, famously telling the German side that it was 'Thiago or nothing' when he joined the club back in 2013.
It's suggested that City see Thiago as a replacement for David Silva, who is set to join Lazio this summer, although young Phil Foden was expected to be the man given the nod following Silva's departure.
Nevertheless, City are now said to be prepared to outbid Liverpool in the race for the 29-year-old's signature, although it's not clear whether that is in regards to a transfer fee - £27m would get the job done - or personal terms.
If Liverpool are hesitating, Thiago may well jump at the chance to reunite with Guardiola, who has proven willing to build his team around the Spaniard in the past and is clearly ready to give him a permanent starting role.
Klopp was burned by this earlier in the summer when Liverpool declined to meet Timo Werner's release clause and allowed him to join Chelsea, and it appears as though Thiago could be set to meet a similar fate.
Does this come as a blow for Liverpool? Perhaps. The Reds obviously aren't desperate to add Thiago, and they don't need to be as they still boast a Premier League-winning midfield. However, if one of those players leaves later in the summer, Thiago may not be there to replace him.
Keïta continues to be speculatively linked with a move away from Anfield, so Liverpool may be forced to spring into action sooner than anticipated if they see Thiago as ideal replacement.