La Masia graduate Thiago Alcántara could return to his boyhood club over a decade after his departure, this time, to join Hansi Flick's staff.
ESPN's Moisés Llorens revealed that Barcelona are working on bringing Thiago back to the club to join Flick's staff in the coming weeks. A summer ago, Thiago helped Flick upon his arrival to the club during pre-season, collaborating with the German manager during the first few weeks of pre-season.
The silky smooth former midfielder called it a career at the end of the 2023–24 season. Injuries plagued Thiago in the latter stages of his career, who managed just one appearance for Liverpool in his final season as a professional, before retiring from the sport at 33.
Thiago couldn't join Flick's staff a season ago because fiscal obligations demanded he return to his place of residency in Merseyside for the remainder of 2024. The original thought was that Thiago could return to the club at the start of the year, but Barcelona's precarious financial situation made it impossible for them to offer him a contract to join the coaching staff.
Barcelona are hoping to meet all the necessary financial requirements to register both players and coaches without issues in the coming weeks. Once they meet these standards, Barça are seemingly interested in offering Thiago a permanent role as an assistant coach.
Thiago is a product of Barcelona's academy who made his professional debut in 2009. With midfielders such as Andrés Iniesta, Xavi Hernández, Sergio Busquets and Cesc Fàbregas blocking his path to consistent minutes, he left the club in 2013 to join Pep Guardiola—the manager who gave him his debut—at Bayern Munich.
In Germany, Thiago blossomed into one of the best midfielders in the world for the better part of a decade. Thiago played his final season with Bayern Munich under Flick, winning the Champions League final in 2020.
The former midfield maestro is now interested in starting his journey to eventually become a manager. Learning under Flick could be a valuable first step.
For Barcelona, Thiago's addition could also be very beneficial considering he's received credit for helping young midfielders Marc Bernal and Marc Casadó.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Barcelona ‘Expect’ to Bring Back Former Midfielder Joining Hansi Flick's Coaching Staff.
