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Liverpool are keen on signing Thiago Alcantara and are ready to pay £18 million for him, according to BILD. The Spaniard is looking to leave the Bundesliga champions this summer and has been linked with several clubs.
Manchester United and Manchester City have also been linked with a move for Alcantara while a return to Barcelona was reportedly also on the cards. However, none of the clubs, including Liverpool, were willing to match Bayern Munich's asking price of £36 million.
The Reds are looking to sign him for half the price quoted by the German side and are the lone club interested in him right now. However, any hint of Bayern accepting a fee of around £20 million would see Manchester City jump right back into the race as Pep Guardiola is a big fan of Alcantara.
The Manchester City manager has worked with Alcantara during his time at Bayern Munich and the midfielder was linked with a move to the Etihad when Guardiola made the switch.
Thiago Alcantara's contract situation
Thiago Alcantara is currently in the final year of his contract and is not willing to put pen to a new deal. He is keen on leaving the club this summer and Bayern are looking to ship him off instead of letting him move for free next summer.
Apart from Alcantara, David Alaba is also in a very similar situation and Bayern Munich manager, Hansi Flick, has made it clear that he wants to keep both at the club.
“I will certainly use every means at my disposal so that we can keep two such quality players in our ranks. I hope that we can keep both these quality players, even if I know that it’s not so simple with Thiago.”
On Alcantara's Liverpool links, Flick simply said:
“It’s just that I always have hope. I always see things very positively.”
Bayern Munich CEO, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has dismissed talks of a sale to Liverpool and has made it clear that no talks have begun.
“We have still had no contact with Liverpool. If he wants to do that, we will have to deal with it.”
