La Roja now look to Thiago for inspiration
MADRID — Barcelona and Spain have been searching for a player to hold their teams together like glue, orchestrating the midfield as Xavi Hernandez used to do for club and country.
Bayern Munich midfielder Thiago Alcantara seems the natural heir to Xavi, who left Barcelona in 2015 having retired from Spanish international the previous year.
But although Julen Lopetegui has made the 25-year-old Thiago a key cog in Spain’s midfield, it is significantly harder for Barcelona to bring back their former player.
He left in 2013 for 24 million euros ($26.1 million) and Spanish media reported on Monday that Bayern have quoted the Catalans an eye-watering 90 million to re-sign him.
Barcelona did not do enough to persuade Thiago to stay, with Bayern pouncing to sign a player who was keen to link up again with former manager Pep Guardiola, this time at the Allianz Arena.
“Pep has always had a lot of faith in me, and me in him, so if he was still the coach then yes (I probably would have stayed),” Thiago said at the time.
Lopetegui has long been a fan of Thiago, who was one of the best players when the coach led Spain to the Under-21 European Championship trophy in 2013.
With Xavi retired and his longtime partner Andres Iniesta, entering his final years at the top level, the onus is on the likes of Thiago to assume the mantle.
He started as Spain beat Israel 4-1 in a World Cup qualifier on Friday and may feature in the friendly against France on Tuesday in Paris. — Reuters