Manchester City prepared to reunite Pep Guardiola with Thiago for £50 million

According to a report by the Daily Mail, Manchester City may make a £50 million bid (= €57.7) to pry Thiago Alcantara away from Bayern Munich. Indecorously knocked out of the Champions League by Jürgen Klopp's Liverpool, Pep Guardiola is apparently already planning to revamp his team's midfield next season.

Guardiola's fondness for Thiago is well known. The battle cry “Thiago oder nix” (“Thiago or nothing!”) was famously how Pep demanded that Bayern sign the dynamic young midfielder away from FC Barcelona—and Bayern heeded the call to the tune of a €25 million transfer in 2013. Although often frustrated by injuries, Thiago has been a fixture of Bayern's starting lineup ever since.

As for Guardiola, besides his recent humiliations in the FA Cup and Champions League, he faces a more pressing need to replace central midfielder Yaya Touré, whose contract expires at the end of the current season. Guardiola also clearly thinks that David Silva, now 32 years old, is also reaching the end of his prime. According to Guardiola, “Next season, David maybe will not play every game, that’s why the squad has to be big.”

Thiago, aged 27, is under contract with Bayern until 2021. Although the recent signing of Leon Goretzka has led some to speculate that Bayern may move on from either Arturo Vidal or Thiago—Vidal being considered the more likely to leave—it is by no means certain that Bayern will let either of its superstar midfielders depart, let alone the younger one.

And, lastly, in today’s transfer market, even an asking price of €57.7 million seems rather low for one of the worlds most talented playmaking midfielders. Transfermarkt.de estimates Thiago’s market value as €60 million. Manchester City being a filthy rich Premier League club, and Bayern being Bayern, the club leadership would probably demand at least €80 million and possibly more, they deign to entertain bids for Thiago at all.