Liverpool midfielder Thiago has rejected the offer of a lucrative move to Saudi Arabia, sources have confirmed to 90min.
The Saudi Pro League has flexed its huge financial muscles this summer, tempting the likes of Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kante and Kalidou Koulibaly into following in the footsteps of Cristiano Ronaldo, who joined Al Nassr at the beginning of the year.
Former Liverpool manager Steven Gerrard is also now employed in the Middle East, taking the Al Ettifaq job on Monday, and 90min understands that Jordan Henderson and Philippe Coutinho are on his immediate list of transfer targets.
The interest in Liverpool players past and present doesn’t stop there, with Spanish midfielder Thiago also approached about heading over to Saudi Arabia.
But sources have told 90min that the 32-year-old has rejected the opportunity to discuss a move away from Anfield, and has no current ambition to leave the club.
Jurgen Klopp is also keen for Thiago to stick around around Liverpool and help usher in a new era at the club, which has already seen significant movement in the transfer market.
The Reds signed Alexis Mac Allister from Brighton early in June and followed that signing up by completing a deal for RB Leizpig’s Dominik Szoboszlai. The Reds have paid the Hungarian’s release clause, worth around £60m, and have handed him the number eight shirt previously worn by Naby Keita and made famous on the back of Gerrard.
Links to Saudi Arabia for Thiago are perhaps no surprise given his injury record at Anfield, which has significantly impacted his number of minutes. In three seasons, the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich midfielder has played in just 67 Premier League games and featured in just 18 top-flight matches during 2022/23.
His experience may be crucial though in helping to bed Mac Allister and Szoboszlai in at Anfield, with both players expected to help Liverpool push themselves back into title contention after finishing a lowly fifth last season.
What we know
- The Spaniard has one year remaining on his Liverpool contract
- Jurgen Klopp keen for Thiago to stay at the club
- Saudi Pro League has signed a number of high-profile players