Thiago Alcantara happy to commit his future to Bayern Munich
Thiago Alcantara has reaffirmed his commitment to Bayern Munich, telling 11 Freunde "it's very important to see out my contract," which runs until 2021.
Thiago joined Bayern from Barcelona in the summer of 2013, with then coach Pep Guardiola telling the club it was "him or no one" that he wanted to bring with him to the Allianz Arena.
Thiago has picked up five Bundesliga titles in the five-and-a-half years since. Although the 2016/17 campaign was the only one in which an often injury-ravaged Thiago started more than 20 Bundesliga games, Bayern saw fit to hand him a new contract until 2021, and he plans to honour it.
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"In sport and in life, it's not just about titles," he said. "[But] when I sign a contract, I think within the terms of the deal. In football everything happens so fast. But it became obvious early on that everything fits in Munich and my family likes it.
"And now I have a contract until 2021. I never thought I’d stay at Bayern so long. To me, it's very important to see out a contract."
No midfielder has played more Bundesliga minutes for Bayern than Thiago this season, and the Spain international - son of Brazil World Cup winner Mazinho - is confident his injury woes are behind him.
"The sport has opened more doors in my life than it's closed," he said. "My reality is football. That's why I try to align my body and mind with this sport. You also get out what you put in."
Thiago will not be in action on Saturday, when Bayern entertain Fortuna Düsseldorf at the Allianz, but the midfielder has begun individual running training on his road to recovery from an ankle ligament injury.