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He played with Messi at Barca & coached by Pep Guardiola, the player who shocks the world by announcing his retirement

A former teammate of Lionel Messi and a former player under Pep Guardiola is officially retiring from football.

By Emmanuel Mendez

Pep Guardiola points to the pitch while Lionel Messi holds the ball with a Barcelona jersey on and a mystery player is about to kick the ball. (Source: Getty Images/EMPICS/PA)

It was surprising to see lots of legendary players of the year retire from football at a young age for footballers. Toni Kroos shocked the football world when he announced his retirement from football a couple of weeks ago, and now he is officially retired after being eliminated with Germany at the EUROS by Spain in the quarterfinals. Today, it was announced that another player would be retiring from football, which shocked many. Fabrizio Romano reported earlier today that the former teammate of Lionel Messi at FC Barcelona and the former player under Pep Guardiola at Bayern Munich is retiring from football. Romano's reports read, "Thiago Alcantara has decided to retire from professional football. Former Barça, Bayern, Liverpool and Spain player has made his decision. Thiago’s passion and love for the game continues as he’s ready for new chapter in football after few months planning for it." Thiago's last club he played for was Liverpool in the Premier League, but he did not play for a year due to an injury he suffered.

Thiago is regarded as one of the best midfielders this generation has ever seen. He shined for FC Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and Liverpool. He excelled the most in Germany for Bayern Munich. The 33-year-old won two Champions League trophies, two FIFA Club World Cups, seven Bundesliga titles, four La Liga titles, four DFB Pokal cups, three UEFA Super Cups, one FA Cup, two Copa del Reys, two Spanish Super Cups, three German Super Cups, one Carabao Cup, and one Community Shield.

Thiago's contract with Liverpool expired on June 30th, and some expected him to join another team in Europe since he still had quality, but the injuries stopped him from playing the majority of the past season with the Reds. He has a hip and muscle injury that kept him out of action for a full year, and he only made one appearance for Liverpool this past season for five minutes.

Thiago's numbers in club football

The team Thiago played the most for was Bayern Munich, as he made 235 appearances for the club, scoring 31 goals and providing 37 assists. For FC Barcelona, he played 100 games, scoring 11 goals and providing 20 assists. He played 98 matches for Liverpool, scoring three goals and providing six assists.

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