Four senior players departed Liverpool on free transfers last summer, and another could be set to follow suit next June.
Football Insider reported that Thiago Alcantara is likely to leave Anfield at the end of this season upon the expiry of his contract, with the club not having any plans to offer him fresh terms beyond that.
The 32-year-old hasn’t played in the current campaign due to an ongoing hip injury, while his last start for the Reds came nine months ago today in a 3-0 defeat at Wolves (Liverpool Echo).
Football Insider added that the midfielder isn’t likely to have anyone come in for him in January because of his fitness woes, with the Spain international not expected back until the New Year.
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With each passing week, there’s an increasing sense that Thiago’s time at Liverpool is meandering towards an anticlimactic end, rather than the glorious send-off that Bobby Firmino got when scoring on his final Anfield appearance last May.
The midfielder is the club’s third-highest earner on £200,000 per week (Capology) and hasn’t played since the win over West Ham in late April; and considering that he’ll turn 33 in that month next year, it’d make little sense for the Reds to keep him on the payroll beyond his contract expiring in June.
It may have been risky to sell him last summer amid the departures of several positional peers, but with Jurgen Klopp’s midfield wonderfully replenished in the meantime, LFC may now have the luxury to part ways with the 32-year-old.
Even if his time at Anfield has been overshadowed by injuries, it mustn’t be forgotten just how sublime a footballer he is, being justifiably dubbed a ‘Rolls-Royce’ by talkSPORT‘s Jim White after a 2-0 win over Watford in April 2022.
Thiago’s exit from Liverpool seems almost certain to happen next summer, but hopefully he can play enough of a part to see his time in Red end on the crescendo that his talent deserves, rather than fizzling out to anticlimax.