Thiago moves to Liverpool from Bayern

Reds sign Spain midfielder on long-term contract for reported £20 million

LONDON:

Liverpool have signed Spain midfielder Thiago Alcantara from Bayern Munich on a long-term contract, the Premier League champions said on Friday.

British media reported Thiago signed a four-year deal with Liverpool after the Merseyside club agreed a transfer fee worth £20 million plus five million pounds in add-ons with European champions Bayern.

Thiago, 29, won the Bundesliga title in each of his seven seasons with Bayern and played in last month's Champions League final victory over Paris St Germain.

"I think it's an amazing feeling. I was waiting for this moment for a long time and I am very, very happy to be here," Thiago told the club's website.

"When the years are passing, you are trying to win as much as you can – and when you win, you want to win more. I think this club describes what I am as well... I want to achieve all of the goals, win as many trophies as possible."

Thiago, capped 39 times by Spain, becomes Liverpool's second new recruit after Greece left back Kostas Tsimikas joined the club last month.

He will join an already-bulging Liverpool midfield alongside Jordan Henderson, Georginio Wijnaldum, Fabinho, Naby Keita, James Milner, Curtis Jones, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Xherdan Shaqiri and Marko Grujic.

Liverpool began their league title defence with a 4-3 victory over Leeds United on the opening weekend, and manager Juergen Klopp expects Thiago to adapt quickly to the English game.

"He just was ready for a new challenge and he decided for us," Klopp said."And that's a compliment actually because he knows the Premier League is tough but he wants to come to the Premier League.We played against him when we played Munich in the Champions League two years ago, so he knows what kind of machine we can be and he wanted to be part of that."

‘Criticism of Chelsea's Loftus-Cheek very harsh’

Chelsea manager Frank Lampard leapt to the defence of Ruben Loftus-Cheek on Friday after the midfielder was criticised for his poor performance in their season-opening win earlier this week.

Chelsea beat Brighton & Hove Albion 3-1 on Monday but Loftus-Cheek was singled out for criticism by television pundits due to his lack of pace, poor passing and for often losing possession, leading to his withdrawal after an hour.

However, Lampard said the criticism was unfair as the Englishman was still finding his feet after returning from an Achilles injury layoff last season and promised there was more to come from the 24-year-old.

"I know Ruben's story probably second best to how he knows it," Lampard told reporters ahead of Sunday's home clash against Liverpool.

"Ruben had a terrible injury, an injury that he worked very hard to come back from over the course of last season. (He) trained brilliantly to get fit again for the start of the season.

"I think if there is harsh criticism... it's certainly very harsh because to come back from an injury like he has, has been difficult for him and he's put a lot of hours into it."

Chelsea's match against Liverpool has already had a war of words between the two managers in the media with respect to the two clubs' transfer spending.

However, Lampard said he does not expect to rekindle the rivalry that had led to a touchline spat between himself and Juergen Klopp during Chelsea's 5-3 loss at Anfield in July.

"I've got a huge amount of respect for him as a manager, I always have," Lampard said. "What he has done at Liverpool in the course of time has been incredible.

"There's nothing in it for me. The competitive nature of the 90 minutes can always slightly boil over in different directions."

Lampard confirmed full back Ben Chilwell, defender Thiago Silva and wingers Christian Pulisic and Hakim Ziyech were not yet fully fit and would sit out the game at Stamford Bridge.