‘A loss’: Ottmar Hitzfeld warns against selling reported £30m Liverpool target

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Legendary tactician Ottmar Hitzfeld have warned Bayern Munich that Liverpool linked Thiago Alcantara would be a ‘big loss’ for the Champions League winners, while speaking to Goal.

After a relentless series of injuries stopped this supremely gifted Spaniard from becoming a key cog in the Bayern machine during the Guardiola and Ancelotti eras, a fully fit Thiago has more than made up for lost time since Hansi Flick took over last December.

But, after playing the best football of his trophy-laden career as Bayern stormed to a stunning treble, that 1-0 triumph over Paris Saint-Germain in Lisbon looks set to be the play-maker’s final appearance for the German giants.

Thiago’s contract expires next summer and, at the age of 29, time is running out for a man who wants a fresh challenge after seven years in Bavaria.

Hitzfeld, a 71-year-old who lifted five Bundesliga titles in two spells in Munich, feels that replacing one of the most naturally gifted midfielders in European football will be easier said than done.

“That is, of course, a loss for Bayern,” Hitzfeld says.

“After not always being able to call upon his [full repertoire of] skills at the beginning of the season, he has developed and improved a lot, like the entire team.”

There have been some mixed messages regarding the seriousness of Liverpool’s interest, but Der Spiegel claimed this week that Thiago’s move to Anfield is now all-but ‘certain’.

The one-time Barcelona youngster, who shone in the 8-2 thrashing which saw Quique Setien sacked and Lionel Messi plugging in his fax machine, will cost just £30 million.

Thiago is hardly the most natural fit for Jurgen Klopp’s sweat-shedding midfield but he possesses the poise, the vision and the defence-splitting abilities that set him aside from Jordan Henderson, Fabinho, Gini Wijnaldum and co.