Liverpool fans have had plenty to celebrate in recent years but even they can’t have expected a week quite like this one.On Friday, they announced the signing of Thiago from Bayern Munich for £20 million. The Premier League champions had been linked with the midfielder for several weeks before finally getting the deal over the line.While there were reports linking them with a move for Thiago all summer, there were very few claiming they were interested in Wolves’ Diogo Jota.But 24 hours after Thiago was officially announced, so too was Jota.Beating Chelsea on Sunday afternoon would put the icing on top of the cake.And that’s exactly what they did as Sadio Mane’s brace saw them claim a 2-0 victory against 10-men Chelsea.
They even got a glimpse of new signing Thiago.The Spaniard hadn’t even trained with the squad and was, therefore, named on the bench for the trip to Stamford Bridge.But with Andreas Christensen being sent off in the final minutes of the first half and captain Jordan Henderson suffering from a thigh injury, Thiago was introduced at the break.And Liverpool fans were delighted with what they saw.Thiago ran the show, making 75 passes - more than any other Chelsea player managed in the entire match and the most by a player who played a maximum of 45 minutes since records began.
Okay, he had all the space in the world to dictate the play but he didn’t put a foot wrong. Well, apart from bringing down Timo Werner for a penalty which Alisson saved from Jorginho.
But it wasn’t just his performance that Liverpool fans enjoyed - they also enjoyed his ‘PASSUN.’
That’s because they noticed the way he celebrated his tackle on N’Golo Kante towards the end of the match.
Thiago dispossessed Kante, winning Liverpool a throw-in. James Milner high-fived him for his work-rate as Thiago walked off and fist-pumped himself and hitting his chest.
Check it out:
It may have only been something very small but Liverpool fans can’t get enough of Thiago right now. Check out the reaction on social media:
After the game, even Jurgen Klopp couldn’t hide his delight at Thiago’s debut.
"Top timing I would say," Klopp said.
"He played with Spain and trained with Munich so he's fit, that's not a problem. But he's not used to our things, that's clear.
"He needs to get used to his team-mates, but when they went one man down it became the perfect game for him.
"I liked his game a lot. Defensively it was tricky for him, because we set it up differently. But offensively, with the ball, that's him, he wants to pass the ball."