Thiago Alcantara has been linked with a return to Barcelona after leaving Liverpool this summer.
Not as a player, but in a new role alongside the new Barca coach Hansi Flick.
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Thiago is a free agent after his contract at Anfield expired at the end of the season.
It has been a frustrating time for the Spanish midfielder, who has been unable to truly showcase his undoubted quality in the Premier League due to a series of injury problems during his four-year career at Liverpool.
Despite being 33 years old and having had a career marked by fitness issues recently, there has been no talk of Thiago retiring from football.
But according to reports from Spanish broadcaster AS, he is being kept in the sights of his former club Barcelona as a liaison officer.
The Spanish top club is reportedly looking for someone who speaks Spanish and German to help new boss Flick settle in at the Nou Camp when he takes up his position as Xavi’s successor.
Thiago would be the perfect candidate as he worked with Flick during his time at Bayern Munich.
It is claimed that he would act as a “direct link” between the coach and the players to facilitate the transition period between the two coaches. In addition, he would work as a translator.
This was the role Jose Mourinho held under Bobby Robson at Sporting Lisbon before becoming the great English coach’s assistant at Porto and then at Barcelona before becoming full-time manager.
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Barça’s sporting director Deco is reportedly looking for a late-career player for the position; two other experienced stars are in the running.
Marc Bartra and Javi Martinez are the other names on the list, with the report explaining that the “objective is for them to play a fundamental role in the coexistence in the dressing room.”
Bartra, 33, is also a former Barcelona player and speaks German due to his time at Borussia Dortmund.
He is currently playing for Real Betis for the second time, where he returned in 2023 after a season with Turkish club Trabzonspor. However, due to a long-term tendon injury, he has only been able to play four times since returning to the Spanish team.
Unlike Thiago and Bartra, Martinez did not play for Barça in his career, but spent nine years at Bayern Munich, where he was coached by Flick.
Martinez is currently playing in the Middle East with Qatar SC, where he moved in 2021, but at 35, he is closer to retirement than the other two.