Thiago retires following Liverpool exit

Thiago has retired from football following his departure from Liverpool.

The 33-year-old spent the past four seasons at Liverpool before leaving as a free agent when his contract expired on June 30. Thiago’s camp confirmed his retirement to The Athletic.

Thiago — the son of former Brazil international Mazinho and brother of Rafinha, who played for Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain — began his career at Barcelona, spent seven years at Bayern Munich and was also capped 46 times by Spain.

The central midfielder made 101 first-team appearances for Barcelona after graduating through the club’s La Masia academy and he won 10 trophies during his time at the club. He was a key member of the league title-winning sides in the 2010-11 and 2012-13 seasons, while he also helped the club win the Champions League in 2011.

Thiago joined Bayern in 2013, in the same summer in which he scored a hat-trick in the European Championship Under-21 final as Spain defeated Italy 4–2. He won the Bundesliga title in each of his seven seasons at Bayern, and helped the club win the Champions League in 2019-20 — his final season with the club.

Thiago subsequently joined Liverpool but injuries restricted his game-time to just 51 Premier League starts across four seasons. His sole outing in the 2023-24 was a five-minute substitute appearance in the 3-1 defeat at Arsenal in February.

He made 534 senior appearances across his club and international career, scoring 50 goals and winning 27 trophies.

(Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images)