Liverpool keen on Thiago Alcântara but will not pay €30m Bayern asking price
Liverpool are interested in signing the Bayern Munich midfielder Thiago Alcântara but have told the Bundesliga club they are not prepared to pay £27.2m (€30m) for the 29-year-old Spaniard, who has one year left on his contract.
Bayern are reluctant to let the Spain international go and have not relented on their asking price. They are due to play Lyon in the semi-final of the Champions League on Wednesday and have put all transfer discussions on hold until their involvement in the tournament has ended.
Thiago is keen to join Liverpool, being an admirer of the team’s style of play under Jürgen Klopp. Thiago, whose father is the 1994 Brazilian World Cup winner Mazinho, joined Bayern Munich in 2013 from the Catalan club and has made 233 appearances for the Bundesliga champions. His younger brother, Rafinha, is still at Barcelona.
Liverpool are currently waiting to see if Bayern’s stance softens. Unless another club comes in for him this summer, he could sign a pre-contract with Liverpool in January.
Liverpool have made one signing this summer, the left-back Kostas Tsimikas arriving from Olympiakos, the 24-year-old Greece defender agreeing a five-year contract for a fee in the region of £11.75m.
Full-back Williams signs longterm contract
Liverpool;s young right-back Neco Williams has signed a new long-term contract at Anfield. The 19-year-old has committed his future after a breakthrough season at the club he joined at the age of six.
“It feels amazing,” Williams told Liverpool’s official website. “At the minute for me, I think there is no better place to learn and to become a better player. I take it day by day and I am maturing in my game, I am developing as a player.”
Williams, a Welsh Under-19 player, made 11 appearances for the champions last season. Along with new recruit Tsimikas he will provide Klopp with cover for his first-choice full backs, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson.
“For me personally, especially learning off Trent and Robbo every day, getting their advice, seeing what they say, it’s only going to make me a better player and I feel it,” Williams added.
Klopp said: “I think Neco is – how young players are – they are kind of ‘projects’. There is a lot of work to do, but there is already a lot of skills and potential there and that makes it so exciting. From the first day he trained with us, Neco trained like a machine. Every day he became better and better and better. Guardian sport