Ex- Manchester United star Rio Ferdinand has admitted that Thiago Alcantara ‘wanted’ to sign for the Red Devils before he sealed his 2020 move to Liverpool.
The Spanish midfielder became a Red shortly after Bayern Munich’s Champions League victory, the Merseyside outfit sealing his services for a bargain fee of £20m.
Despite a slow start to life at Anfield, the former Barcelona midfielder has established himself as a key player in Jurgen Klopp ’s system. He has made 31 appearances in all competitions for the Reds this term so far - more than he made the entirety of the previous campaign.
The 31-year-old has been a key driving force behind Liverpool ’s quadruple effort under the stewardship of Klopp. However, he could instead have been strutting his stuff at Old Trafford, with Ferdinand suggesting that Thiago had desires on a switch to Manchester United but that the Spaniard made the right decision personally.
Speaking on his Vibe With Five podcast, the former defender said: “Yeah I spoke to him. He spoke perfect English, great guy. He wanted to come to United. But you look at him now and he could not be happier.”
Whilst Liverpool sealed the signature of Thiago from Bayern Munich, Manchester United recruited their own midfielder in the form of Ajax’s Donny van de Beek. The Dutchman’s Old Trafford switch did not go the way he or the Red Devils originally desired.
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The now 25-year-old made just 15 starts for the club in his first campaign, only four of those coming in Premier League action. He now finds himself in the midst of a loan spell with relegation candidates Everton.
It initially looked as though Thiago’s Anfield career was going to go the same way following a number of injury issues and inconsistent form during his debut campaign. However, he has managed to find top form this time around and Ferdinand has suggested that he only needed time to adapt to the top-flight of English football.
The ex-defender has urged his former club to afford players at Old Trafford the same courtesy.
“With Thiago, you could have probably gone to a huge, huge amount of the fan base at Liverpool, and it would have said after last season ‘he isn’t good enough’,” he added. “They may have said ‘he ain’t the player we thought he was. Playing in the German league, slowing us down, let’s get him out’.
“I saw ex-players and pundits, talking about getting him out as he doesn’t play the ball forward or that he was not ready made for this league.
“Players need time, and it goes back to this thing with managers at Man United as well, the club needs to give managers at the club patience. Clubs and fans need to give players, ones from other leagues especially, patience.”
