Why Liverpool simply cannot miss out on signing Thiago

There have been whisperings in the Bayern Munich dressing room that Thiago is on his way to join Liverpool, with just one year remaining on his contract at the Allianz Arena.

More often than not, the transfer market suits selling clubs more than buying clubs, with more and more outfits acting proactively to ensure their best players are tied into long-term contracts.

Liverpool's ability to sell Philippe Coutinho for £142m is one such example of how elite clubs get bang for their buck but the Reds can seize on an opportunity to punish Bayern Munich for their inability to get Thiago to sign a new deal.

While Georginio Wijnaldum is similarly hesitating to re-sign with Liverpool, the difference is that the Reds could swoop and replace him with a player of even greater quality while the Bundesliga giants will struggle to find someone of similar ability.

Wijnaldum has been an excellent servant for Liverpool and his ball retention is a skill that has allowed Jurgen Klopp to switch from his high-octane, geggenpressing style of play to a more passive system focused on retaining the ball, counter-pressing and waiting for the right chance to strike at the opponent.

The 2-0 win over Crystal Palace is a perfect example of this. Without Wijnaldum on the pitch, a midfield of Naby Keita, Fabinho and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain struggled to find a chink in Crystal Palace's armour but with Wijnaldum and Jordan Henderson on the pitch, the Eagles were worn down.

This patient style of play has been the perfect blueprint for Liverpool this season and with the Premier League title already in the bag, the Reds can push on in an attempt to set a record points tally, with Manchester City the first side to reach 100 points in 2018.

While Wijnaldum is hardly a player that could just be plucked out of this amazing Liverpool team, signing Thiago would give Klopp the tools to either stick with the current style of play or decide to go with a more aggressive attacking lineup that could feature Mo Salah, Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino, Naby Keita, Thiago and Jordan Henderson as part of a deadly front six.

This would be impressive on its own but being backed up by a back five of Alisson Becker, Andy Robertson, Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Trent Alexander-Arnold would make it all the more terrifying.

Liverpool were poor in the Champions League this season with supporters shifting the blame onto backup goalkeeper Adrian as they were eliminated by Atletico Madrid before lockdown.

Liverpool winning its first Premier League title has made fans forget being knocked out of the Champions League but from the start of next season, the Reds will be hellbent on reclaiming their title as Kings of Europe.

Adding Thiago to an already star-studded lineup would surely only improve Liverpool's chances of adding a seventh European Cup to their ever-growing trophy cabinet.

Given that defeat to Diego Simeone's men was the first time Jurgen Klopp has been knocked out of Europe as Liverpool boss, it would be unwise to bet against the German and his Mentality Giants.