Joel Matip and Thiago Alcantara leave Liverpool with Jurgen Klopp at the end of the season (Picture: Getty)
Liverpool have confirmed that Thiago Alcantara and Joel Matip will both leave the club in the summer.
Thiago, 33, completed a £20million move from Bayern Munich in 2020 and has gone on to make 98 appearances across four seasons on Merseyside, helping the side win the FA Cup in 2022 and the Community Shield later that year.
It’s been an immensely frustrating final season for Thiago, though, with the Spain international limited to just one Premier League game – a five-minute cameo against Arsenal – due to persistent injury problems.
The midfielder will depart Anfield upon the expiration of his contract and reports emanating out of Spain this week indicate a move to La Liga outfit Girona could be in the works.
In a statement on Liverpool’s official website, Klopp passed on his best wishes, claiming a fully fit Thiago could get into any team on the planet.
‘Before he even came to Liverpool I believed that if you really love football it would make a lot of sense if you watched Thiago Alcantara play,’ the Liverpool head coach said.
‘Technically, he is so, so good. A talent who could play in any team in the world and it was a privilege to have him with us.
Thiago has managed just one appearance for Liverpool this season (Picture: Getty)
‘I already knew a lot about him as a footballer before he got here – what he did at Barcelona and Bayern Munich, how could you not? – and I could not have been happier when he decided to take on a new challenge with us.
‘From that point on I got to see him up close and all I can say is ‘Wow’. Most importantly, he was part of a new story and helped us develop as a team because of his special qualities.
‘I know injuries have been a frustration for him and also for us but the level that he was able to play at when he was available was incredible. This is what I will remember.
‘Now he will go in a new direction with his family and we can only wish them well. Wherever he plays next I would be happy to watch. An artist of the game who will only ever paint the most beautiful pictures.’
Matip has won six trophies with Liverpool (Picture: Getty)
Matip, meanwhile, brings an end to a nine-year spell on Merseyside after joining Liverpool on a free transfer back in 2016.
The former Schalke and Cameroon defender has made over 200 appearances for the Reds, winning six trophies including the Champions League and the Premier League.
‘In all the years that I have been involved in football, I am not sure I have come across too many players who are more loved than Joel Matip. I’m not even sure it would be possible to say anything bad about him,’ Klopp said.
‘A wonderful professional, a wonderful footballer and a wonderful human being – we have been blessed to have him with us for as long as we have and now all we can do is wish him well as he heads off in a new direction.
‘Joel’s qualities as a player are there for all to see and as a club we have benefited from them since the first moment that he joined.
‘I don’t think he has had too many headlines over the years but he has only ever been a very famous figure within our group.
‘I have said before that if there was one person who wouldn’t care if he was underrated it would be Joel, but the truth is we could not have rated him more highly.
‘Not only has he set the standards for himself, he has set them for others and this is one of the main reasons why his time here has been so successful.’
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