Veron vibes linger over Thiago as ‘best ever’ Liverpool signing seems more Boehly than brilliant
Liverpool were hailed for ‘an incredible deal’ when signing Thiago, but with his ‘last game’ for the club likely done, the Veron and Boehly vibes are strong.
It was on return from his first injury – a short bout of coronavirus notwithstanding – when Thiago Alcantara’s entire Liverpool career was accidentally but perfectly summed up by Jurgen Klopp.
“From the 20 minutes he played, 12 were brilliant and then he felt the intensity, which is normal,” the manager said after a 0-0 draw with Newcastle in late December 2020, stressing the importance of “rhythm”.
More than three years later, it remains something the Spaniard has not been able to establish. And with his latest setback ‘raising the possibility that he’s played his last game’ for the Reds, in the words of one well-sourced Liverpool journalist, he likely never will.
Thiago promptly embarked on his longest run of consecutive Premier League starts for Liverpool (11) after that Newcastle cameo, at which point the club spiralled into their worst stretch of Klopp era form with home defeats to Burnley, Brighton, Manchester City, Everton, Chelsea and Fulham. And more embarrassing still, a goalless draw against Manchester United.
Thiago’s presence and Liverpool’s collapse were not seen as entirely coincidental by some, prompting the sort of comparisons with Juan Sebastian Veron which Klopp only fuelled through a “youse are fudging idiots” style X-rated diatribe at the classy midfielder’s critics.
Yet as reality dawns that Thiago’s ninth separate injury might mark the expiration of his final life at Anfield, the parallels of a world-class continental operator with an enviable passing range signing to take dominant champions to the next level, but struggling to acclimatise to a new role, system, country, league, intensity and style, are difficult not to draw.
Liverpool will always have those flickers of brilliance, those moments of genius which made a mockery of the underlying doubts. The majestically frictionless Porto goal; his peerless performance against Manchester City at Wembley in the FA Cup semi-final; making the PFA Team of the Year despite not even starting half of Liverpool’s Premier League games that season; his infrequent schoolings of Manchester United; that time all his muscles were attached convincingly to his body.
But the injury-induced tears before the 2022 League Cup final provide the most compelling backdrop to Thiago’s time in England: one of frustration and fantasy, the carrot of introducing a player of *that* calibre to *this* squad eminently beguiling but perennially distant.
Liverpool have moved on without him because they have had to. The midfield restructuring last summer was undertaken with the idea of Thiago as an added bonus rather than a key component. Stefan Bajcetic has already seamlessly replaced him as the token Spanish pass master whose permanent injury status is shrouded in curious mystery.
But it would be foolish to pretend everyone wasn’t swept away on that initial wave of Thiago-mania; this very site suggested ‘he arguably still has his best years ahead of him’ in praise of another Michael Edwards masterclass. Liverpool adding this European champion to a squad which had just cantered to the Premier League title was supposed to cement their position and minds were lost over the structuring of an apparent Bayern Munich robbery.
“We were told Liverpool were never going to pay the asking price for Thiago which was €30million,” Kaveh Solhekol breathily told Sky Sports News at one point. “And when you look at the deal now, it is actually an incredible deal for Liverpool.
“They are paying £20million spread out over his four-year contract. So they are actually paying £5million a year for arguably the best midfielder in the world.
“That means it is the best lease-purchase deal I have ever seen – to get a player as good as Thiago Alcantara for just £5million a year.”
But when Todd Boehly amortises the ever-loving Christ out of all living organisms on the planet, suddenly he’s an idiot. And the same mathematical hoops were curiously not jumped through to hail Manchester City for their signing of Erling Haaland, for which there will be an obvious if as yet unclear explanation.
Perhaps it is fitting that the circle-jerk led to an ultimately mutually dissatisfying premature climax. Thiago will leave with fewer Liverpool appearances than Jose Enrique, an FA Cup and Community Shield apiece, and semi-regular regrets as to what could have been. From breaking a questionable record against Chelsea to becoming unquestionably broken, it has been quite the ride.
