Catalan giants desperate to prevent player leaving for Manchester United.
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Barcelona are preparing for crisis talks with midfielder Thiago Alcantara after he edged closer to the Nou Camp exit door according to The Daily Mail.
The Spanish under-21 star is reportedly on the verge of agreeing a move to Manchester United that the Spanish champions could be powerless to prevent.
The highly-rated youngster previously had a £77 million minimum fee release clause in his contract but that has been drastically reduced to £17 million due to a clause guaranteeing Thiago a certain number of games every season.
That clause was not met during the previous campaign, allowing Thiago to conduct talks with any club ready to match the £17 million release fee.
New Manchester United boss David Moyes is keen to stamp his mark on the team and has reportedly identified bringing in midfield reinforcements as his top summer priority.
It was thought that Moyes was keen on bringing in Barcelona’s Cesc Fabregas but it appears that it was his Barcelona team-mate that the Scotsman was after.
Barcelona are hoping to persuade Thiago to stay and pulling out all the stops to persuade him his future lies in Catalonia.
But it appears that the player’s mind may already have been made up with his father and representatives set to inform Barcelona officials of Thiago’s desire to move to Old Trafford.