Thiago Alcantara- Barcelona
Thiago is one of the most highly rated young central midfielders in European football at the moment. He is a play-maker in the mould of Barcelona greats Xavi and Andres Iniesta. That type of player is something that Manchester United have been on the look out for, especially this summer since the retirement of United legend Paul Scholes. The Red Devils have missed someone who can pick a pass and unlock a top quality defence but they now believe that they have found a man that can do that for them in the form of Thiago.
The Spanish midfielder had an excellent European under 21 Championship for Spain, scoring a hat-trick in the final against Italy which Spain won. Thiago’s excellent performances attracted the interest of United and the Red Devils are hoping to bring the 22 year old to Old Trafford this summer. Thiago’s is understood to want to leave Barcelona because of the competition for places at the Nou Camp. Despite being such a fantastic prospect for the Catalan giants, Thiago hardly played last season and instead had to put up with a place on the bench as the likes of Andres Iniesta and Cesc Fabregas strutted their stuff. Thiago believes that the situation is unlikely to get better this season and feels the only way he can be guaranteed first team football is by leaving the Nou Camp. The Spaniard is desperate to be a part of Spain’s squad for next summer’s World Cup and that will only happen if he is playing regularly.
Manchester United are willing to offer Thiago plenty of first team games and the midfielder is available at a very affordable price. Thiago has a clause in his contract at Barca that stated if he didn’t play enough last season his release clause would be lowered to around £15 million. This has now happened, meaning interested clubs only have to pay £15 million to sign the Spanish midfielder. Barcelona are desperate to hold onto one of their best young players but because of Thiago’s release clause, the Catalan giants have no control over Thiago’s future and reports suggest that Barca have given up in trying to persuade the midfielder to stay at the Nou Camp. United are front-runners for Thiago but aren’t the only team that are interested. Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich are also monitoring the situation. Guardiola gave Thiago his first run of games when he was Barcelona manager and is known to rate the 22 year old highly. United may need to move quickly to sign Thiago before Bayern become even more interested.