Reported Liverpool target Thiago Alcantara has previously singled out the Reds in an interview with Sid Lowe in the Guardian back in 2018.
The Bayern Munich playmaker was speaking to Spanish football journalist Lowe before the 2018 World Cup in Russia, and was in deep discussion about the differences in the football he’s used to playing and the brand that’s played in the Premier League.
Thiago singled out Liverpool’s energetic midfield, and two years on, he’s been the latest player linked with joining Jurgen Klopp’s side.
Lowe has been speaking exclusively to the ECHO about the Thiago rumours, debating where he would fit into the Reds’ midfield.
When asked who Thiago would replace in the Liverpool midfield three, Lowe said: “I think the answer is no-one.
“I think what we’ll see is the use of a lot of midfield players. I think possibly even more so, in what’s likely to be another very compact season - it’s unlikely that no-one gets injuries.
“Thiago can take the place of any of those midfielders, take the role of any of them. Possibly less Wijnaldum than the others, I would say.
“I think he can play from that deeper position, I think he can do some of the things that Henderson does, although he’s nowhere near as high energy, obviously, as Henderson.
“Rather than looking at it like, ‘What’s the midfield three?’, I think we’ll see, ‘Right, what is the midfield three for this game?’. It’s about the role he plays with all of the options Liverpool have, rather than it being the starting XI and whose place he takes.”
Lowe also mentioned the time he interviewed Thiago when he was on international duty with Spain, and the two were discussing the differences between Spanish and English football.
Thiago said Liverpool’s midfield “pressed like animals” in the 2017/18 Champions League campaign, where Klopp’s side were beaten 3-1 in the final by Real Madrid.
The Bayern Munich man specifically named Jordan Henderson, James Milner and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who “ate up the midfield” on their way to Kiev.
Lowe said: “Very interesting, actually, when I interviewed him before the last World Cup, we were talking about styles and the way that teams play, and we were actually talking about England - but he was the one who brought it onto Liverpool.
“He was saying England were a very good team, that they’ve adapted now and they’ve got a lot of young players who are quite exciting.
“We were mostly talking about the speed of the forward line and the quality of the forward line. I said, ‘Is their midfield a bit limited in terms of the touch, the technique, the vision, the skill and the quality?’, which is what he was talking about.
“He was effectively giving a manifesto of Spain’s style, even though that’s a style that’s evolved. He said, ‘Well, not really, because you look at that Liverpool midfield and they just eat the midfield up. They’re extraordinary’.
“It’s true that the ball maybe goes through that midfield rather than gets played in that midfield, but he was really, really full of praise about that midfield. I think he’s really, really bright and I think he likes those shifts in styles.”
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