Liverpool legend John Barnes has told Jurgen Klopp he has landed the world's best possession merchant in new signing Thiago Alcantara.
The 29-year-old has wasted no time in showing his quality since his £25million switch from Bayern Munich.
He was handed his debut probably slightly earlier than Klopp had anticipated against Chelsea, as Jordan Henderson's injury saw Thiago replace the Reds skipper at half-time.
But it took just one half of football for Thiago to write his name in the history books, recording 75 completed passes - the most any player has ever achieved in 45 minutes of Premier League football.
"Thiago was amazing on his debut at the weekend," Reds icon Barnes told BonusCodeBets.
"For him, he came on the pitch at half-time in the best possible situation. Playing against a team with 10 men, whereby he will get plenty of the ball really dominate the situation and the game in the middle of the park.
“He broke the Premier League record for the highest number of passes completed by a player in 45 minutes which says a lot about his quality and what he can bring to this team moving forward."
While Thiago gave away an unfortunate penalty, luck was on his side as Chelsea's Jorginho saw his effort saved by Liverpool no.1 Alisson.
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And his error was soon forgotten as his efficient display in the middle of the park gained plenty of plaudits.
Liverpool moved to sign the Spaniard to help give them greater control during matches, and Barnes feels he could not be a more ideal addition.
“It’ll be interesting to see how he does against teams like Manchester City when he doesn’t see as much of the possession, but these are all nice problems for Jurgen Klopp to have," Barnes added.
“For keeping the ball however, there is no better player in world football at doing so than Thiago.”
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