Why has former FC Barcelona midfielder Thiago Alcantara rejoined the club?

Not even a week had passed since former FC Barcelona and Bayern Munich midfielder Thiago Alcantara announced his retirement from professional football. However, in a surprising turn of events, the 33-year-old is back at his former club Barca, but in hopes of succeeding at a new role! Many were surprised to learn of Thiago’s retirement at the tender age of 33.

However, as mentioned on Barcelona’s official Instagram and X handles, the player has joined the club in a new position under Hansi Flick. The latter has prior experience with the retired midfielder at Bayern Munich, as the German side lifted a historic treble back in the 2019/20 season. Thiago’s final stint as a player happened to be with Premier League club Liverpool.

It is understood that Thiago will join Flick and work as an assistant under the German. Even though the player has been a wonderful manipulator of the ball, it remains to be seen how he will make the transition from the pitch to the touchline.

Thiago will join FC Barcelona for the summer and will also be present at the club’s pre-season tour in the United States.

A closer look at the midfield maestro Thiago Alcantara’s time at Barcelona

Thiago Alcantara has officially taken charge as the assistant coach at FC Barcelona. As fans prepare to witness the brilliance of the Spaniard from a different perspective altogether, here’s a closer look at how the player came up the ranks at the club. Alcantara joined FC Barcelona at the young age of 14.

He made his senior professional debut against RCD Mallorca after breaking into a squad featuring Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets in midfield. His style of play exhibited a level of maturity far beyond his years and was evidently picked up by Pep Guardiola himself. However, pushed back by the brilliance of the Xavi-Busquets-Iniesta trio, he was eventually forced to change clubs.

However, Alcantara left the Blaugrana as a treble winner, having a Champions League, four La Ligas and a Copa del Rey to his name. After a ‘successful’ spell with Barcelona, Alcantara joined Guardiola at Bayern Munich on a four-year deal. He ended up extending his stay till 2020, making 150 appearances and scoring 17 goals in the process. After joining Liverpool in 2020, Alcantara chose to hang up his boots at the end of an injury riddled 2023/24 campaign.

In case you missed it :

ncG1vNJzZmiemafAtb%2FPqKmtsl6YvK5706Ggmp%2BfYq6tr8Cnq5qqkWKzpHnBmqmcnZyku6J50Z6rrqqeYrumw4yrpqWdXZi5tq6O