Liverpool have a good chance against Man City this weekend |Football Digest
Liverpool may have been presented with an opportunity to recharge their transfer kitty this week thanks to a stroke of bad luck for Barcelona. The Spanish champions are currently third in La Liga but were dealt a serious blow on Sunday when influential midfielder Gavi suffered a serious knee injury whilst playing for Spain in their Euro 2024 Group A qualifier against Georgia.
The teenager landed awkwardly after trying to control the ball before leaving the pitch in tears. Spain went on to win the match 3-1 in Valladolid.
Like any team competing for top honours, the Catalan giants are looking to strengthen their squad and according to Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo, they remain open to the idea of former title-winner Thiago Alcantara returning to the Nou Camp.
The silky 32-year-old is currently plying his trade in the Premier League with Liverpool but a succession of injury issues has marginalised his involvement in Jurgen Klopp’s side.
The German manager undertook a savage rebuild job on his midfield last summer and although Thiago survived the cull he is still yet to play a game this season and with the Reds’ new-look midfield already putting them back on track for a fresh title challenge, the Spaniard could be looking at the exit door.
The midfielder is a crowd favourite at Anfield as he was at the Nou Camp, but Barcelona will have had no intention of paying a fee for a player who they could potentially snap up for free at the end of the season when his current contract expires.
However, the serious-looking injury to Gavi has now been confirmed as a tear to his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), ruling him out for the rest of the season.
“It is a huge loss for us,” said Barcelona manager Xavi. “You can’t replace him; the heart, passion and courage he plays with. We have to try and find solutions without him, but it’s difficult.”
One of those solutions could be to sign Thiago from Liverpool in January, but in order to make that a possibility Barcelona would need to stump up a fee for the midfielder. That could work for both parties and the player himself who would likely welcome the opportunity to play more first-team football.
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Liverpool have dealt successfully with Barcelona in the past, although the Spanish champions may not be of the same opinion. In 2018 Philippe Coutinho moved from England to Spain for a reported £142million.
The funds allowed Klopp to build his first great Liverpool side who went on to lift the Premier League title in 2020. Coutinho’s move away was not deemed a success however, with the Brazilian struggling to reproduce his best form before he was farmed out on loan to Bayern Munich and Aston Villa before eventually joining the Midlands club permanently in 2022.
Thiago, though, knows Barca well and appears though he would be a good fit for Xavi – fitness issues permitting. And Liverpool pocketing some change for a player set to depart for nothing in the summer, especially one who has not featured at all so far this season, might make a lot of sense.
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