Thiago Alcantara makes SHOCK final decision after leaving ...

Former Liverpool midfielder Thiago Alcantara will not be signing for any new club this summer, Fabrizio Romano has revealed, as he has instead decided to retire from football.

Thiago was released by Liverpool at the end of his contract in June after managing just one appearance all season. Indeed, injuries were a constant disruption during the latter days of his Liverpool career.

The midfielder left Liverpool with a total of 98 appearances behind him from four seasons after joining the club from Bayern Munich back in 2020.

While Thiago’s Liverpool career was evidently over, there was an expectation that he could still continue his career at a good level.

The 33-year-old was said to have some offers to remain in the Premier League, or to return to LaLiga in his native Spain after his previous spell with Barcelona.

In fact, there were even rumours of a Barcelona return, since they need a deep-lying midfielder and now have Thiago’s former Bayern boss Hansi Flick in charge.

But transfer insider Romano has revealed on Sunday afternoon that Thiago has taken the decision to retire from football altogether, meaning Liverpool were the last club of his career.

Romano claims Thiago is ‘ready for [a] new chapter in football’ that he has been ‘planning for’, suggesting he may have a future within the game – but not on the pitch anymore.

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Thiago can look back with pride at a career that included 101 appearances for Barcelona and 235 for Bayern, before his final spell with Liverpool.

He won four LaLiga titles with Barcelona and won the Bundesliga in all seven of his seasons with Bayern. He was also a Champions League winner with both clubs, but his only honours with Liverpool were the FA Cup and Community Shield in 2022.

It is still unclear if Liverpool will be looking to sign a similar replacement for Thiago, or if they will try to replenish their midfield with a different type of player.

Thiago was the most experienced midfielder they had last season, a title that has since passed to Wataru Endo, for whom Liverpool are expected to bring in competition in defensive midfield.

Every Premier League player whose contract expired at the end of the 2023/24 season