Every day seems to bring a new twist in the plot that involves Thiago Alcantara, Manchester United and Barcelona, with the most recent set of reports based on certain sources suggest the Spanish midfielder will choose the Premier League champions.
According to both the Guardian in England and Sport in Spain, Thiago is going to choose United, despite weekend reports of Barcelona promising Thiago more regular-team football, which should have gotten him convinced to stay at the Camp Nou.
Now, it seems he has said yes to the offer from Manchester United, which means they’ll pay £17 million to sign him from Barcelona, and he’ll join the team on a five-year contract.
What made him choose United? Two things: Convinced that despite the Barcelona promises, the competition for a spot in the lineup is almost non-existent at United, who aren’t flooded with creative midfielders at the moment, unlike Barcelona, who don’t just have many players at the position, but they happen to be the best, or around that description, in the world.
And then there’s the money. He was making £30,000 a week for Barcelona, and that will be greatly enhanced once he signs for United, becoming their first significant purchase in the post-Alex Ferguson era. The final details still need to be hashed out, and Thiago might not sign in time to fly with the team on their three-week pre-season tour (Wednesday), and will probably join them later on.
If the signing is complete in the next couple of days, it still isn’t certain Thiago will immediately fly out with the rest of the squad to their Asian tour. New signings at United are often required to have a week of tests and training before they are available for selection, and a few medical and fitness examinations need to be completed before Thiago is officially a new United player.