Owen Hargreaves believes his former club Bayern Munich should convince Thiago Alcantara to stay put. The Spain international was one of the club’s standout performers in the recent Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain which they won by a 1-0 scoreline at the Estadio da Luz Stadium in Lisbon.
Following the game, there has been much speculation that Thiago could be on the move, considering he has refused to sign a new contract beyond next season. So far, Bayern have been unable to convince him to renew his deal, but Hargreaves is hopeful that the European champions can find the breakthrough amid the interest from Liverpool, he told BT Sport: “The big one is Thiago, they’ve got to keep him. He was one of the best players on the pitch. ‘Liverpool fans will be watching that and thinking: ‘yes please!’.”
According to Bild, it is deemed that Thiago has already agreed to personal terms with the Merseyside giants and he is keen to work under manager Jurgen Klopp. However, the Premier League holders have yet to negotiate the transfer fee and that won’t be straightforward, considering Bayern are reluctant to budge on the valuation.
Hansi Flick’s side want at least £27.5m for the former Barcelona graduate and the Reds are unwilling to match the fee at the moment citing the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Still, there continues to remain the speculation involving the Reds and the transfer saga could extended until the closing stages of the summer transfer window.
Meanwhile, Bayern have recently decided against the purchase of Ivan Perisic after a year-long loan from Inter Milan. The 31-year-old impressed for the club last season with eight goals and 10 assists from 35 appearances. Bayern were initially keen on signing him on a permanent deal, but pulled out after the Nerazzurri’s £13.5m demands.