Liverpool, Thiago and the waiting game

In Munich, they expect Thiago Alcantara to join Liverpool. Multiple sources have told The Athletic that he is waiting for Michael Edwards to make his move. Officially, Liverpool are interested but have made no offer. Figures with close links to the central characters in the deal react similarly whenever they are asked about its progress — there is an emoji for the shrugging of shoulders, it turns out.

So what is going on? Thiago’s links to Anfield started at the beginning of June and the timeframe is significant: this summer, Georginio Wijnaldum entered the final year of his contract, a player whose talent would need to be replaced if Liverpool were to decide to sell and avoid the risk of losing him in the summer of 2021 for nothing.

Given Liverpool pride themselves on their sensible financial operation, surely they cannot afford a repetition of what happened with Emre Can, a player who may have cost less than £10 million but left on a free transfer…