Is Thiago Alcantara the perfect fit for Manchester United?

Thiago Alcantara

According to reports in Spain and England, Manchester United have been linked with Barcelona midfielders Cesc Fabregas and Thiago Alcantara as new manager David Moyes looks to add some creativity to the midfield.

We have all watched Fabregas during his time at Arsenal and know what he can do, but what about his younger team mate? Could he be the answer to Manchester United’s lack of creativity in midfield? Could he be long term successor to Paul Scholes?

Who is Thiago Alcantara?

Considered the jewel in the crown at Barcelona’s famous La Masia academy, Thiago Alcantara is widely believed to be the natural heir to Xavi.

Son of previous World Cup winner Mazinho, Thiago could have opted to play for one of three different nations. Born in San Pietro Vernotic, Italy, while his dad was playing with Lecce, and as such, qualified to play for the Azzurri along with his dad’s native Brazil.

He moved back to Brazil with his father briefly, before relocating to Spain as a three-year-old, where he has lived since. Both the Italian and Brazilian national teams had their eyes on him, before he put his allegiances beyond doubt when he made his senior team debut for Spain in a friendly against Italy.

Thiago possesses all the technical ability you would expect from a Brazilian, and has all the qualities in him to succeed at the Camp Nou and on the international stage.

Described as Spain’s brightest talent by Real Madrid legend Fernando Hierro, he has been on the fringes of the first team ever since making his debut in August 2011. He has played more than 100 times for Barcelona (League and Cup) since making his debut as a substitute in May 2009, but has struggled to establish himself in the starting lineup.

He scored his first goal for the Catalan giants in the 4-0 win over Racing de Santander at the Camp Nou in Febraury 2010 after coming as a substitute for Yaya Toure.

Thiago has been very successful with the Spanish youth teams having represented them at the U16, U17, U18, U19 and U21 levels. He helped them win the 2008 UEFA European Under-17 Championship in Turkey, 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship in Denmark and most recently the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship in Israel.

He was also named as the Man of the Match in the final in Denmark (against Switzerland) and in Israel (against Italy).

Why is he linked to Manchester United?

One of the main reasons that the 22-year-old is being linked so heavily to Manchester United this summer is due to the release clause in his contract. He has had his release clause reduced because he has not featured for a minimum of 30 minutes in 60% of Barcelona’s matches this season.

“Release clause is a clause in a player’s contract which sets a minimum fee that a club must bid in able to buy that player. If a club bid’s the minimum fee set in a player’s contract, his club cannot block the bid and must allow the bidder to talk to the player.”

All player contracts in Spain have release clause, a result of a previous agreement between the union and the clubs. Most of them are reasonable and according to player’s talent and potential, while other are simply inserted to make the player unbuyable. For example, Lionel Messi’s is €250million (£213million) and Cristiano Ronaldo’s at Real Madrid is around €1billion (£870million).

Getting back to Thiago. Before the start of this season, his release clause was €90million (£76million). Obviously no club would have matched that. Now, it has fallen down to just €18million (£15million). It is exactly the type of price range that clubs such as Manchester United can easily afford. It is even less than what they paid for Anderson and Owen Hargreaves.

Considering that Barcelona had the league wrapped up by March, had an easy group in he Champions League (Celtic, Benfica and Spartak Moscow) and had plenty of Copa Del Rey matches to play, people might think it is ridiculous and it shows negligence on their part that they couldn’t give him atleast 30 minutes in 60% of their games this season.

But that’s not true. Thiago didn’t merely sit out because Tito Vilanova didn’t want him to play. He sat out a lot of games through injury. He missed pre-season, he missed the start of the season, and he missed a large chunk of matches after picking up another knee injury against Sevilla in September. So it’s not Barcelona’s fault.

Thiago Alcantara

Why should he choose Manchester United

According to reports in Catalan newspaper (Sport), Thiago has informed Barcelona of his intentions to leave after having discussions with Vilanova.

There is no secret about Manchester United’s interest in him, but there has been recent speculation that Bayern Munich may also be interested in the midfielder. If he is keen on leaving Camp Nou in search of regular first-team action, then a move to the Bavarian club with a midfield containing the likes of Bastian Schweinsteiger, Javi Martinez, Toni Kroos, Mario Gotze, Thomas Muller and Luiz Gustavo makes very little sense, even if his former Barca manager Pep Guardiola is set to take over this summer.

The same goes with Manchester City and Chelsea as he won’t be the first choice in midfield in either of the teams.

At United, Thiago would take centre stage and almost be guaranteed of regular action because there is no midfielder in the whole squad that is anywhere near his level.

Michael Carrick and Shinji Kagawa come near to him, but the former would merely be a player that compliments the Barcelona youth graduate rather than impede his path to regular first-team football, while the latter plays in a different position.

He would easily be the first choice in midfield ahead of Tom Cleverley, Anderson and Darren Fletcher as they lack the quality and creativity that the young Spaniard possesses.

How will he fit in at Manchester United?

Manchester United fans might be thinking at this point “if he can’t even get to play 30 minutes of 60% of games at Barcelona in a season, then how could he be a great signing for us?”

The answer is because he is simply good enough. Thiago is one of the best young midfielders in world football and has the talent to start for any club in Europe. As stated by Xavi, he is “the future Barcelona”, and it is only his presence that is keeping the young Spaniard out of the starting eleven at the Catalan club.

He is actually the type of player Manchester United need. He has a wider range of passing than any other United player, is capable of playing all across the middle of the pitch, can dictate the tempo of the game, has very good energy and is composed under pressure.

He is very quick and covers the ground easily. He is an athlete who has very high technical skills and that’s what you usually expect from a La Masia graduate.

United don’t have anything like him in their whole squad. He is more dynamic and multi-dimensional than Carrick and could easily slot in the midfield two alongside him. He would make an ideal partner for him and they both would compliment each other perfectly.

He is a mixture of young-and-old Paul Scholes. He has the action-packed, athletic game of a young Scholes, along with the awareness and vision of an older version of Scholes.

If Manchester United are to beat the likes of Chelsea, Manchester City, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich in the near future then they need someone who can grab hold of the game and dominate possession.

Thiago Alcantara is the answer. He is at a stage of his career where he is ready leave Barcelona and even Spain in search of regular first-team football.

Signing him for just €18million (£15million) would be a bargain and be a huge statement of intent from United and David Moyes.