Four reasons Hansi Flick was keen to bring Thiago Alcantara back to Barcelona | OneFootball

Barcelona are set to announce the return of Thiago Alcantara in the coming days, who was part of Hansi Flick’s coaching staff during the opening weeks of his tenure at Barcelona. The German manager was keen to bring back Thiago, who had to return to live in the United Kingdom for tax reasons following his retirement from football.

The 34-year-old has already been seen on Barcelona’s training ground, and earlier this week Flick held a dinner with his fellow coaching staff members, which Thiago attended. The plan is for the former Bayern Munich midfielder to return to the coaching staff, his first official role since leaving the game, and there are a number of reasons that Flick was keen to bring him back on board.

Good communication skills with La Masia products

As explained by Sport, Thiago, who came through the academy at Barcelona, had a special connection with the young players during his weeks in preseason last season. His ability to communicate the message to Barcelona’s prospering talents is seen as an advantage. In particular, he mentored Stefan Bajcetic at Liverpool too, while he was out injured.

Image via FC Barcelona

Ability to manage the dressing room

Less than two weeks ago, Flick publicly chastised his side’s attitude, asking them to leave their egos at the door. Thiago came into a dressing room at Barcelona with Lionel Messi, Xavi Hernandez and Gerard Pique in it, and spent the rest of his career amongst more stars at Bayern Munich and Liverpool. His understanding of and ability to handle dressing room politics is another advantage.

An eye for central midfield talent

The jump in play in Barcelona’s midfield was evident in the early weeks of last season, with Marc Bernal, Marc Casado and Pedri all impressing early on. Thiago’s mastery of the position means he is perfect to give advice to Barcelona’s fine stable of talent in the position.

Experience with injuries

Among that stable of talent are Gavi and Bernal. Both are coming off cruciate ligament injuries, while Andreas Christensen, Ronald Araujo and Dani Olmo have all battled fitness problems too. Having dealt with his fair share of them himself, Thiago can provide a support for those players, with experience of his own to use in that regard.