Man Utd midfield target there for taking as buyout clause drops
Published:Thiago Alcantara has long been touted as the future successor to Xavi at Barcelona, but his patience appears to be wearing thin at the Nou Camp and this may be Manchester United’s optimum chance to snare the highly-touted midfielder.
The Red Devils have been knocked back in the past when offering £15m for Thiago, but he may now be available for just a touch more than this sum.
Rumours are apparent that Thiago’s minimum fee release clause of €90m has been reduced to a far more affordable €20m due to his lack of game time this season and this will almost certainly reignite Man Utd’s interest.
The arrival of Cesc Fabregas has been a key reason in this and although he has largely underachieved this season, Fabregas would still appear the chosen successor to Xavi, despite his more direct and forward-moving game.
It is in central midfield where David Moyes arguably most needs to strengthen, with Paul Scholes retiring and Anderson anticipated to be allowed to depart, leaving Michael Carrick and Tom Cleverley as the only two natural central midfielders.
Thiago would be a welcome addition and he is widely considered to be a hybrid of Xavi and Andres Iniesta, combining the passing of the former with the dribbling abilities of the latter.
The father of the 21-year-old has previously indicated that the time has come for Thaigo to quit the Nou Camp and given that he does not have the Catalan roots of many of the players, he will not share the loyalty of other Barcelona squad members.
A midfield trio of Carrick, Thiago and Kagawa would be especially impressive next season and alone would give the Red Devils a great chance of successfully defending their Premier League title, which they are 2/1 joint favourites to do, alongside Manchester City.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publication
