Bayern Munich head coach Hansi Flick has all-but confirmed that Thiago Alcantara is a Liverpool player. 

The 29-year old is reportedly en route to Merseyside, after the clubs agreed an initial fee of £20million (€21.88m).

Thiago's mooted move to the Premier League champions has been the most drawn-out saga of the transfer window, with rumours circulating long before his man-of-the-match performance in the Champions League final.

In late July, Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said talks between the Spanish international and sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic had broken down.

Rummenigge told Sky Sports Germany, "Thiago informed Hasan that he would like to do something new again, and so it is.

"You will have to accept that. We have a contract that is still valid for one year and if it should be clear with any club and that club should pay a transfer fee of a certain size."

At the time, it was believed Bayern were seeking somewhere in the region of €35million for Thiago. The initial €21.88million could rise to that €35million figure based on add-ons.

Speaking ahead of Bayern's season-opening Bundesliga game with Schalke, Hansi Flick said, "Thiago is an exceptional player who spent seven hugely successful years here.

“He's a wonderful person and an outstanding professional. It was very emotional today when he said goodbye to us all. My coaching team and I enjoyed working with him.

"I can only congratulate Liverpool as they got a great player and especially a great person."

Bayern are likely to use a chunk of those funds on Ajax's American full-back Sergino Denst.

Sky Germany claim a five-year deal has already been agreed, and that Bayern chiefs travelled to Amsterdam on Tuesday to get the deal over the line.

The 19-year old had also attracted the interest of Barcelona, whose head coach Ronald Koeman tried to get Denst to declare for the Netherlands while he was in charge.