Thiago already a wanted man just 24 hours after retirement announcement

On Sunday afternoon, Fabrizio Romano reported the bombshell announcement that Thiago Alcantara had ended his professional playing career at the age of just 33 following persistent injury problems.

The news came just a week after the former Liverpool midfielder’s contract at Anfield expired, and less than two months after he said goodbye to supporters in L4 on the final day of the 2023/24 season.

Within 24 hours of his retirement being announced, the ex-Spain international was already being courted by one of his former clubs.

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According to Jijantes (via Football Espana), Thiago has been contacted by Barcelona about the possibility of joining up with Hansi Flick’s coaching staff, with the German having previously managed him at Bayern Munich.

Reporter Gerard Romero claimed that an agreement could be struck by the end of this week, during which the men’s first team at Camp Nou commence pre-season training, while it’s also been reported that the 33-year-old and his family are keen on a return to Catalonia.

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While the abrupt nature of the announcement about Thiago’s retirement from playing came as a shock to the system, it doesn’t surprise us that he’s already been sought out for a coaching position.

The 33-year-old has played under no fewer than six Champions League-winning managers – Luis Enrique, Pep Guardiola, Carlo Ancelotti, Jupp Heynckes, Flick and of course Jurgen Klopp – and he’ll surely have absorbed some first-rate footballing knowledge from each of them.

He was a genius of a midfielder with exceptional technique and vision, and if he goes into coaching and is even half as shrewd in that capacity as he was as a player, he could be in for another richly rewarding career.

Obviously we don’t know yet whether or not Thiago will take up a role in Flick’s backroom staff at Barcelona, but if he does, it’ll ensure a quick transition from the pitch to the dugout for someone whose playing days deserved a far better ending than to see his final season restricted to a solitary five-minute cameo.

Injuries have unfortunately forced him to hang up his boots at a relatively young age, but it mightn’t be too long before we see our former number 6 back involved in football, this time imparting his knowledge onto the next generation of potentially world-class prodigies off the famed La Masia production line.

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