Hansi Flick expects to 'recover' Thiago Alcántara in January

Published:14/12/2024 - 20:49h

Updated:14/12/2024 - 20:55h

Hansi Flick will add a luxury reinforcement to his coaching staff in January. As expected, Thiago Alcántara will return to the club as a technical advisor, once his legal commitment in England is completed.

FC Barcelona hopes to have Thiago Alcántara in its coaching staff starting the first week of January. The former midfielder of Liverpool and Bayern Munich joined Hansi Flick's staff in August after confirming his professional retirement, but pending legal commitments in England forced him to return to British soil in the last months of 2024.

Indeed, although the former Spanish international worked with the team in the final stretch of the preseason and the start of the 2024/25 season, his contract stipulated a return to the UK starting September 1. What was the reason? Thiago had a valid contract with Liverpool until June 30, but he had to remain on English soil for the rest of the year to fulfill the time required by the country's tax laws.

Thiago Alcántara, ready to work with Barça from January 1

Once he fulfills his tax obligations in England, Alcántara will be able to officially sign his contract with Barça, as part of the coaching staff led by Hansi Flick. The German coach sees in the former midfielder a key piece to strengthen his relationship with the squad, providing more experience to the players to learn how to cope with the pressure of competing for all titles at stake during the second half of the season.

For his part, Thiago will have to take the coaching course starting next year to formally begin his career on the sidelines, perhaps as a coach of some division of La Masia. Injuries forced the San Pietro Vernotico native to hang up his boots much earlier than he expected (he will turn 34 in April), but fortunately, he has quickly found a way to stay connected to football with the team where he was trained and debuted as a professional.