Thiago will not sign a new contract and is expected to leave the club, confirmed Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, president of Bayern Munich.
The German giants were informed by Spain’s 29-year-old international that he will not sign a new contract and will leave if a club meets its price.
The midfielder only has a year left to run on his existing contract. He had joined the German Barcelona giants in 2013.
Thiago, 29, has recently been linked to a move to Liverpool champions in the Premier League and Bayern has accepted that his departure is imminent after the failed attempts by sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic to persuade him to sign an extension.
“In fact, Hasan’s conversations with him have always been very productive, and at some point, it actually seemed as if a deal would be reached, but then Thiago informed Hasan that he would like to do something new again, and so it is,” Rummenigge told Sky Sport in Germany.
“We’ll have to accept that. We’ve got a one-year contract that’s still valid and if he agrees with any club and that club should pay a certain amount for a transfer.”
“I don’t want to make any public remarks about the amount we ‘re considering. Then we’re going to deal with it, but we’re not going to hold a summer sale, as I have already said.”
“I’m not angry at all, I like him. I think he’s a great footballer, a fine footballer, and he’s also a good character. And one shouldn’t forget either: at the age of 29, he’s at the age when, if he wants to do something new, he ‘s got to do it now, because if you’re in your 30’s, it’s going to be harder to transfer.”
As clubs struggle to cope with the coronavirus’ financial consequences Rummenigge expects transfer fees to drop and feels the big clubs will suffer more than the smaller ones.
“I think I have a very good network with a lot of colleagues-no matter if it’s Real Madrid, Barcelona, a lot of English clubs, France, Italy-and I can say very clearly: everyone is grunting, everyone is suffering.”
“I can also say one thing: the bigger clubs have bigger income cuts than the smaller ones. Of course, that’s the nature of things, because of course the income is also a bit more questionable for us all and we used to have higher incomes.”
