Jurgen Klopp told why Liverpool would be making a mistake with Thiago Alcantara transfer

Bayern Munich's Spanish midfielder Thiago Alcantara celebrate scoring during the UEFA Champions League round of sixteen football match between FC Bayern Munich and Arsenal in Munich, southern Germany, on February 15, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / Odd ANDERSEN

Liverpool great John Barnes has warned the Reds against a move for Bayern Munich's Thiago Alcantara this summer, as the Spaniard could upset the finely-tuned balance of the team.

Thiago, 29, is being strongly linked with a switch to the Premier League champions as he enters the final year of his Bayern deal.

But given how Liverpool function with so much emphasis on the midfield putting in the hard work for the full-backs and forwards to flourish, Barnes says it could be a risky addition.

"With the midfield being very workmanlike, they are a lot of points better off than everybody else," Barnes told BBC Sport.

"The reason you can have two full-backs attacking at the same time and three strikers is because they have three hard-working midfielders to protect that situation.

"If you get another creative midfielder and you want your full-backs and front three to attack, then maybe you are going to concede more goals."

Barnes was speaking alongside former Reds defender Gary Gillespie and the club's ex-forward Emile Heskey, as all three men evaluated their specialist area of the team and discussed the possibility of Liverpool adding new signings.

Gillespie spoke of the need to add cover in defence with Dejan Lovren having left the Reds for Zenit St Petersburg, and first-choice left-back Andy Robertson having no real specialist deputy in the first-team.