The Reds finally ended an arduously long thirty-year Premier League silver drought with a brilliant, gleaming trophy last season! Due to the current prevailing COVID-19 conditions, fans were unable to participate in the utter joy experienced during the awards ceremony. However, they might be able to relive the happiness and triumph it this season. Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp has had a taste of Premier League silver and, he is not stopping now.
The Reds have had no shortage of great managers, especially Bob Paisley who remains the only manager to win the Champions League (then the European Cup) three times with an English club, doing so in the space of just five years. Klopp’s management has also proved to be a great success at the Merseyside and, Dietman Hamann goes on to claim that the German has to be recognized as the best manager in football.
He further goes on to say Klopp’s “achievements are incomparable” because of the enormous rebuilding job he had on his hands at Liverpool, and that he is now unequalled as the master of his profession.
We can easily envision Klopp going down the same road as Bob Paisley since he recently steered the Reds towards a long-awaited glory. Now, after Liverpool have agreed on a deal to sign midfielder Thiago Alcantara from Bayern Munich, it seems Klopp can do no wrong.
Thiago’s arrival would give Jurgen Klopp one less position to worry about at Liverpool. Manchester United and the Reds have been the two primary contenders for his signature, and Liverpool have now won the transfer race. Thiago, 29, will leave Bayern after seven years during which time he has won seven consecutive Bundesliga titles and also four DFB-Pokals and the Champions League.
The transfer fee is set around a whopping £27million (€30m) but, there is no doubt that Thiago is worth it all.
“Thiago is an exceptional player who spent seven hugely successful years here,” said Bayern Manager Hansi Flick.
“He’s a wonderful person and an outstanding professional. It was very emotional today when he said goodbye to us all.
“I can only congratulate Liverpool as they got a great player and especially a great person.”
The enormous Virgil van Dijk is evidently thrilled on the Thiago’s arrival as he will bring world-class quality to Liverpool’s midfield and allow them to defend their Premier League title. However, as happy as Liverpool is, Manchester United fans are ‘gutted’ as they were unable to attain such a star player. Thiago has been met with a wave of disappointment and frustration from United’s fans on social media.
@VidicsHead: “Gutted if Thiago goes to Liverpool, partly because I’d love him at United. Mainly because he’s pretty much the perfect player for them. I hope he doesn’t but I reckon he’s going to improve them drastically! As if they’re not far ahead enough as it is.”
However, Liverpool may have one concern to worry about which could be the reason why they have been initially reluctant to pay up for a 29-year-old who had entered the final year of his contract at Bayern. If you look at Thiago’s seasonal appearances, it shows he has struggled to go a season without getting injured. He missed the end of Bayern’s 2019-20 Bundesliga campaign after undergoing groin surgery. An ankle problem saw him miss some of the 2018-19 season and a thigh issue meant he was out for three months in 2017-18. A knee ligament injury also forced him to miss more than a year between 2014 and 2015.
This fragmented record may be of concern to the Reds as this could mean their player is injury-prone and would have to spend the most time on the bench. But, ultimately and undoubtedly, the transfer is a brilliant bargain and snatched out of the hands of European rivals, Manchester United, it is also a no-brainer.
