Barcelona have reportedly shown a surprise interest in loaning Liverpool midfielder Thiago Alcantara after his difficult start to life at Anfield.
The Spain international first broke through at Barcelona as a youngster, but left the club to play more consistent first-team football, and he ended up enjoying a superb career at Bayern Munich.
Alcantara then moved to Liverpool last summer, although it did not go as planned for him as he and the Reds as a whole have had a disappointing season.
According to Todo Fichajes, Alcantara is still wanted at Barca, however, and they could try to sign him on loan before bringing him back permanently.
It would be intriguing to see how Liverpool react to this, but one imagines they won’t want to abandon the 29-year-old so soon after signing him.
“My heart sank because I was like ‘how can I do this? I ran into the kitchen and thought ‘I’m not going to poison this guy’ so I called my wife. – The Man Utd legend describes his major panic about brewing a cup of tea for the first time… at the age of 37. Click here to find out more.
That said, they will surely be disappointed with how he settled down and it just may not be quite suited to Jurgen Klopp’s fast-paced style of football.
In contrast, Alcantara looks perfect for what Barcelona fans are used to seeing at Camp Nou, and he could be ideal in helping them fill the void left by club legends Xavi and Andres Iniesta.