‘Unbelievable’ Liverpool player unlikely to leave in January, but this could be his last season

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Having waved goodbye to a few legends last summer, Liverpool could say goodbye to one more in 2024.

Not a Liverpool legend, granted, but more a legend of the game. Some would argue with that tag for Thiago Alcantara, but he’s undisputedly been one of the best midfielders of the past 10 and more years.

Unfortunately, we haven’t quite seen the class that earned him those accolades often enough over his three years with the Reds.

Nevertheless, it’ll still be a sad day when Thiago departs. And according to The Athletic, that day is ‘probable’ to arrive next summer.

It’s claimed at least that although there have been reports of interest, the 32-year-old is ‘unlikely’ to leave Liverpool in January. Thiago reportedly decided amid overtures from Saudi Arabia before the season started that he was happy to see out his contract at Anfield.

As a result, he’s currently looking likely to be a free agent come next summer. At that point, The Athletic claim that Thiago will have ‘many options’ to consider as his next move.

Thiago story coming to a close

We’re potentially in the minority here, but if Thiago gets fit and is happy to stay at Liverpool, then we’d offer him a contract extension.

If his injury woes continue for the rest of the campaign, then that obviously cannot be justified, especially given his high wages.

But if, say, Thiago returns in January and stays healthy for the rest of the season, we don’t see why he shouldn’t stay.

This season – and half of the last one – has been time wasted for the Spaniard at Liverpool. Having already missed a good accumulative chunk of the past three years, it feels like we’ve been robbed of seeing a master at work.

As long as Jurgen Klopp still thinks he can be useful, then what’s the harm in a one-year deal? The positives of having Thiago around surely far outweigh the negatives. He’s loved by teammates – such as Nat Phillips who called him ‘unbelievable’ back in 2021 [liverpoolfc.com].

Klopp and his coaches have reportedly been rueing the absence of their No.6 so far this season, too. When available, he’s clearly still in the manager’s plans.

The alternative is that Liverpool let one of the best midfielders of a generation walk out of the door for nothing having failed to get the best out of him. That would be a big regret.

At this point, plenty of supporters will take the opposite view. They’ll likely see Thiago as an expensive crock who can no longer be trusted. But just watch him go elsewhere and turn on the style, leaving Liverpool to regret even more. There’s still time for this story to stretch beyond next summer.