Thiago Alcantara is “one of the best” and would be a great signing for Liverpool if Jurgen Klopp is able to complete a raid on Bayern Munich for the classy midfielder, says Danny Murphy.
The Reds have seen a move for the Spain international mooted for some time.
Thiago has stopped short of committing to a new contract at the Allianz Arena and has less than 12 months left to run on his current terms.
It is expected that he will be on the move over the coming weeks, although Bayern’s Champions League triumph over Paris Saint-Germain may force him to reconsider his options.
Murphy hopes that Liverpool can do a deal for the talented 29-year-old as his obvious quality would make Jurgen Klopp’s Premier League title holders even stronger.
The former Reds star told talkSPORT: “I’m a fan of his anyway, but Thiago in the middle of the pitch for Bayern, unbelievable performance [against PSG]. Brilliant, he was, on and off the ball.
“What a signing he’ll be if Liverpool get him.
“He can play in a four, holding, because he’s tenacious enough and he’s athletic enough.
“He reads the game really well and he dictates tempo, he can slow the game down and speed it up, and not many players can do that.
“He can also play ahead of someone holding, like Fabinho, and get forward a bit more and play the through balls and be more creative.
“He’s one of the best.
“The thing is that Liverpool midfield has been amazing, really, and it’s so competitive – they’ve got six players already for the three positions.
“[Jordan] Henderson, [Georginio] Wijnaldum and Fabinho are the three, who Klopp normally plays in the big games, then you’ve got [James] Milner, [Naby] Keita and [Alex] Oxlade-Chamberlain as back-up!”
Questions have been asked of whether Liverpool need to be bringing in Thiago given the wealth of midfield options that they already possess, but Klopp is aware of the need to further bolster his ranks in order to remain competitive and more arrivals are expected at Anfield before the summer transfer deadline passes.