He may have only signed for Liverpool on Friday, but Thiago Alcantara is already making an impression at the club.
In his first 45 minutes as a Liverpool player, the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich star broke a Premier League passing record in the Reds’ 2-0 win at Chelsea.
The Spain midfielder was announced as a Liverpool player on Friday afternoon, after completing a £25m switch from Bayern.
Thiago replaced Jordan Henderson for the second-half, the midfielder managed to control the game - and even recorded one quite remarkable stat.
Thiago completed 75 passes in 45 minutes, which is more than any of the Chelsea players did in the entire 90 minutes.
As well as that, it is the most passes completed by any player with a maximum of 45 minutes in the Premier League since records began in the 2003/04 campaign.
But for one Liverpool star, the chance to play alongside Thiago really is a pinch yourself moment, as a photo has appeared on Reddit via user aswinvikram from 2016 showing Takumi Minamino alongside Thiago as a “fan”.
It is reported that the image is of the Japanese youth team, who were staying at the same hotel as Bayern Munich, and took the opportunity to get their photo with the Spanish international.
Now, four-years on, the two are team-mates, with Minamino having joined the Anfield club last season.
The Japan international signed a four-and-a-half-year deal with the Reds, which will run until the summer of 2024.
"It has been a dream, my dream to become a Liverpool player," he said after his signing was confirmed by the club.
"To play in the Premier League was one of my targets."I think this is the top-class league in the world. I was thinking if my career as a footballer progressed smoothly, someday I would be able to play in the Premier League.
"But I never thought I would be able to play in this team and I'm really happy about it. I'm looking forward to it."
