The previous summer window saw Liverpool say goodbye to Georginio Wijnaldum, who joined Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer after making a total of 237 appearances across all competitions for the Merseyside club.

Now, it seems as though Liverpool could be set to potentially lose one of their current midfield players in the near future.

What's the news?

According to Portuguese journalist Pedro Almeida, newly appointed Barcelona manager Xavi, is keen on bringing Thiago Alcantara back to the Spanish club.

As a product of Barcelona's youth system, Thiago, who has been previously described as an "extraordinary" player by Xavi, made a total of 100 senior appearances for the club across all competitions in which he managed to score 20 goals and provide 10 assists in the process before joining Bayern Munich in the 2013 summer transfer window.

Since moving to Liverpool in September 2020, the 30-year-old, who is currently valued at £22.5m according to Transfermarkt, has made 37 appearances for the Reds across all competitions, with one goal and one assist under his belt.

Despite not being too busy in front of goal during his time at the Merseyside club so far in terms of goals and assists, Thiago proved with his performances in the Premier League last season that he can be an impressive figure for Jurgen Klopp's side, ending his debut campaign with an overall season rating of 7.12/10, making him Liverpool's third-highest rated player according to WhoScored.

This season has also seen the midfielder prove himself as a useful player for them in the middle of the park having racked up an average of 1.2 shots per game, 1.2 tackles per game and win 79% of his duels in the Premier League so far this season.

This is why it would be a disaster if the Spaniard left the club for a move back to Barcelona this summer, especially since his current contract isn't set to expire until the end of June 2024.

Also, with current Liverpool sporting director Michael Edwards recently revealing that he will be stepping down from his position at the end of the season, he could well end his time at the club on a bad note if Thiago does go to Barcelona at that point.

Moving forward, if Xavi and Barcelona do make an approach in the near future to try and lure Thiago back to La Liga, Liverpool will have to convince the midfielder that he is an important figure for them and should see out his contract at Anfield.

In other news: Forget VVD: “Influential” LFC ace with 1.5 tackles a game has been Klopp's unsung hero - opinion