Thiago Alcantara explains why he left Barcelona for Bayern Munich

Thiago Alcantara has opened up on the decision to leave Barcelona for Bayern Munich back in 2013.

After splitting time in his youth between Spain and Brazil due to his father Mazinho’s own career, Thiago came through Barça’s famed La Masia academy in the late 2000s.

He first broke into the first team in Pep Guardiola’s final season in charge and was largely seen as a long-term successor to Xavi and Andres Iniesta.

While he made 81 appearances across his final two seasons for Barcelona, Thiago felt like he needed to play even more, leading to him joining Guardiola at Bayern.

“I played with a lot of legends at Barça. Then I struggled to play as many minutes as I wanted,” he told BT Sport.

“Pep Guardiola left the club and signed for Bayern. He asked me what was wrong with me. Bayern’s decisive motive was: ‘I need minutes, I have to play’.”

Thiago enjoyed a successful seven-year stint at Bayern, though his time in Germany was blighted by various injury problems.

After helping the Bavarians win the Champions League in 2020, he made a surprise move to Liverpool, making 91 appearances for the Reds since that switch.