Salihamidzic says he plans for Thiago to stay

Thiago Alcantara’s future remains uncertain. The Bayern Munich number 6 has been at the center of transfer speculation throughout the summer. Despite interest from the likes of Barcelona and Real Madrid, Mark Lovell of ESPN has reported that the Bavarians intend to keep the midfield maestro in Munich. Speaking to Suddeutsche Zeitung, Salihamidzic said the following:

Of course we are planning with him. It will be an interesting battle for places with nine midfielders.

Thiago’s quality is unquestionable, but the Bayern midfield remains a crowded place. According to the report, the German champions are looking to offload at least one of their midfielders -- Javi Martinez, Arturo Vidal, Sebastian Rudy, Corentin Tolisso, Leon Goretzka, James Rodriguez, Thomas Muller, Renato Sanches or Thiago.

It has been widely reported that Thiago and midfield destroyer, Arturo Vidal are the most likely casualties of this midfield depth, with Bayern setting an asking price of €70M million for the talented Spaniard.

The creative playmaker has developed into a world class footballer since his arrival in the Bavarian capital, but his injury woes and the form of James Rodriguez could keep him on the sideline. Although Salihamidzic has indicated his plans to keep Thiago with the Bavarian giants, the potential for discontent leaves the door open for a move away.

It’s the club’s duty to the coach to put together a squad for where no discontent is pre-programmed, and at the moment we have — more or less — nine central midfielders for probably only three positions. Nine!

None of the nine midfield options would be satisfied with a bench role, creating an especially difficult situation for Niko Kovac. The Croatian manager will have a selection headache that no one would envy this upcoming season and it remains to be seen which Bayern midfielders will remain with the Rekordmeister.

Do you think Thiago should be sold? Which Bayern midfielders should be offloaded?