Mazinho: “PSG wanted Thiago, but in the end they signed Rafinha”

The 2020 summer market has been a time of change for one of the best-known football families today: the Alcántara. While Thiago was packing his bags to change Bayern Munich for Liverpool, his little brother Rafinha, after finishing his loan with Celta, did the same, leaving Barcelona to go to PSG.

However, the negotiations were not as straightforward as they appear. It's more, The fate of both could change if the international with Spain, Thiago, had not been able to sign with Liverpool. This was confirmed by Mazinho, father of both, in an interview with 'France Football', explaining how Leonardo, PSG sporting director, initially contacted him to discuss the signing of the former Bayern midfielder.

“I had already spoken with Leonardo before, but through Thiago. I wanted to sign him for PSG, but had already reached an agreement with Liverpool, “said Mazinho. In addition, he added something more important still. And that is, After the refusal of the operation by his eldest son, the father proposed to Rafinha as a possible Parisian signing, something that was difficult to carry out from the beginning, since the sporting director of the French team refused. But, in the end, it had a happy ending for the Alcántara family after he changed his mind.

“We talked about Rafa, but he was not part of Leonardo's plans. He must have thought about it, because he realized the opportunity he had and that signing him would be a boost for his team. When we start talking again (one day before the market close), Leonardo changed his mind, so everything sped up on the last day. On Monday we had to work very hard to convince both clubs. We were scared, but thank God, five or six hours before the deadline, we managed to close the deal“said the father.

Finally, Mazinho summed up the Thiago-Liverpool-Rafinha-PSG operation with the most enlightening phrase possible: “Leonardo wanted Thiago for PSG, but in the end he managed to sign Rafinha”, finished the father of the players.

Thiago overcame COVID-19 and Rafinha looks for his place in the XI

Since then, Thiago arrived at Liverpool as one of the great bargains on the market. However, the Spanish international did not get his dream start with the team led by Jürgen Klopp. He has barely been able to play 134 minutes, first for testing positive for COVID-19, and then suffering an injury during the derby against Everton. Hence, he has not been able to enjoy the expected prominence and has him away from the playing fields.

Meanwhile, his little brother Rafinha accumulates 238 minutes with PSG, divided between Ligue 1 and Champions League. In addition, he has started in three of the five games he has played with Thomas Tuchel's, among which he already registers an assist in Kylian Mbappé's goal that opened the can against Nimes. A match in which, in addition, he suffered a wild entry twelve minutes after making his debut.