Liverpool ‘ready to sell’ 32-year-old after ‘very lucrative’ Saudi offer is ‘rejected’ by ‘focused’ player | OneFootball

Thiago in action against Real Madrid in the Champions League final.

Liverpool midfielder Thiago has turned down a move to Saudi Arabia, according to reports.

Thiago joined Liverpool from Bayern Munich for around £20million in September 2020 and he has made 97 appearances for the Premier League club, scoring three goals.

The Spanish playmaker is one of the best players in the world based on pure technical ability, but he has been unable to display that for the Reds on a consistent basis due to his injury problems.

As per Transfermarkt, he has had seven separate injuries during his time at Anfield, missing 59 games as a result. He also missed another seven matches thanks to Coronavirus, which ruled him out of action in 2020 and late 2021.

And with a single year left on Thiago’s contract, he could be off this summer, with interest coming from the ever-expanding Saudi Pro League.

According to The Athletic, there is ‘serious interest’ coming from Saudi Arabia and the 32-year-old has ‘already rejected one lucrative offer’ to join the same league as Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kante.

Any approach has been made ‘directly’ to Thiago’s representatives, with Liverpool yet to receive a bid, the report states.

The former Barcelona midfielder’s ‘focus’ is to return for pre-season training in Merseyside this weekend and ‘intends’ to stay at Anfield for the 2023/24 campaign, unless an improved offer from the Saudis results in ‘a change of heart’.

Liverpool’s stance is that they are ‘happy’ for Thiago to stay put and leave as a free agent in 2024 with Jurgen Klopp ‘planning’ for the new season with the Spanish international in his squad.

The report adds that Liverpool are no longer pursuing Nice midfielder Khephren Thuram following the signing of Domink Szoboszlai, which was reported earlier on Tuesday by Ben Jacobs.

A report from The Telegraph actually says Liverpool are ‘ready to sell’ Thiago in the summer transfer window.

The Reds are hoping the Saudi billionaires will return with another offer so they can facilitate a move for Southampton’s Romeo Lavia, who is available for between £45-50m, which is seen as ‘too prohibitive’ for the club to make an approach at this stage.

There is ‘no intention’ to offer the player a new contract, which makes a summer sale ‘more enticing’ than letting him walk for nothing in 12 months.

Thiago ‘faces a battle for playing time’ next term, even if his injury troubles do not come back to haunt him.

As one of the club’s highest earners, Thiago’s exit would be very useless as Klopp looks to add a young defender on top of Lavia, the report adds.