LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Saturday, May 8, 2021: Liverpool's Thiago Alcantara celebrates after scoring the second goal during the FA Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Southampton FC at Anfield. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

Thiago has shown why he was signed by Liverpool in ‘last 6 to 8 weeks’

Injury and COVID-19 has not made for a smooth transition for Thiago at Liverpool, and his teammates and manager know he is only scratching the surface of what he’s capable of.

A world-class player on arrival, one of few in recent memory, the No. 6 had a short break between winning the Champions League with Bayern Munich and training at his new club before COVID-19 and injury hit.

All the stop-start prolonged the time needed to adapt, not to mention then seeing his role move away from what he does best with injuries stacking up to force a reshuffle.

But with Fabinho back in midfield ahead of a settled defence, we’ve seen Thiago flourish in recent weeks, combining attacking impetus with a calm and experienced presence.

And his upturn in form is not lost on Andy Robertson, who has witnessed the very best of the Spaniard and what he was brought in to do in the last “six to eight weeks.”

“It’s always tough for players coming in, especially people like Thiago. A huge name in the game and he needed time to adapt, then obviously got a really bad injury against Everton that put him out,” Robertson told LFCTV after the win at Burnley.

“He then had to catch up again and come up to speed and I think the last six to eight weeks we’ve really seen what Thiago can bring to this club.

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Saturday, April 24, 2021: Liverpool's Thiago Alcantara during the FA Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Newcastle United FC at Anfield. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

“We were never in doubt but he took time to adapt to the Premier League as do we all.

“Again, [at Burnley] he was fantastic.”

Since bizarrely being overlooked for a starting place in either Champions League leg against Real Madrid, Thiago has played a total of 527 minutes in the last six – amounting to 24.9 percent of his season minutes to date.

Liverpool are unbeaten in that time, winning four and drawing two to move to within one win of securing top four, and Thiago has been a key pillar in that run.

But in Jurgen Klopp‘s eyes, we’ve not even seen half of what Thiago is capable of in a red shirt.

“He came here to a new club with a little, little, little break only; arrived here, got injured and had to restart again with a team that was not settled,” Klopp said before the trip to Burnley.

“That’s massive, that’s nearly impossible. What he did in these moments is absolutely incredible.

“Now it looks different and better. But we are not even halfway there, Thiago is not halfway there, the team is not halfway there.”