Liverpool midfielder Thiago arrived at Anfield with a well-established reputation amongst the world’s elite players.
The early signs were the Reds had indeed signed a superstar as the Spaniard took to the Premier League like a duck to water with back to back Man of the Match performances against Chelsea and Everton.
However, injured late on in the Merseyside derby, the 30-year-old subsequently went on to miss three months of action.
On his return, Thiago found a Liverpool side that was struggling for confidence, form and frankly, players.
Recent weeks have seen another upturn in performances from the cultured ex-Bayern Munich man – culminating in a dazzling display as Jurgen Klopp’s men overcame West Brom 2-1 owing to a last-minute Alisson becker header.
Despite the goalkeeper’s heroics, Sky Sports pundit and former Anfield midfielder Jamie Redknapp was full of praise for Thiago after the match.
In Thiago, I saw a masterclass in midfield. He was amazing today. As a midfield player, we were watching him at times, the way he was manipulating the ball, passing it, keeping it, he kept them ticking. I know they’re playing against a team that’s got relegated, but you can still see his qualities when it’s a tight defence and the way he was passing the ball. Brilliant today.
The 41-cap Spain man pulled all the strings for the Reds – earning a Sofasore rating of 8.10 whilst completing 91 per cent of passes and creating one big chance.
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What a player.
Unfortunately for many of the aforementioned reasons Kopites haven’t seen the best of their new signing this season.
Next season, with hopefully more star names back to fitness around him – Thiago will have the opportunity to show his true colours.
