Barcelona dressing room ask to sign Thiago Alcantara
Various heavyweights in the squad have asked Josep Bartomeu to bring him home
Former Barcelona player Thiago Alcantara, currently at Bayern Munich, is on the transfer market. The German club will sell him after seeing he is not in new coach Niko Kovac's plans and at Barcelona, various key players want to bring him back.
Some of the most important Barcelona players have told president Josep Maria Bartomeu not to let this moment slip. They think he will be ideal to return after five seasons at Bayern Munich, having matured, learned from another league and improved in various aspects of his game, especially defensively.
HOLE TO FILL
Barcelona players think he will have an important role next season now captain Iniesta is gone, with Coutinho fitting in better as a forward rather than a midfielder and Arthur an unknown quantity. The player would like to return for sporting and family reasons.
GOOD FEELING
Thiago has a good relationship with various squad members he came through the youth system with - Alba, Busquets, Pique, Iniesta, Sergi Roberto - whom he also often meets on Spain duty.
With some of them he went off for a mini-break, along with Betis star Marc Bartra, as pictured above.
THE NUMBERS
Bayern want to get 80 million euros for Thiago, although Barcelona will try to lower that. A deal may be struck around 50m, although it all depends on Barca's negotiating skills and Bayern's posture.
