Until something becomes official, you can never tell. Thiago Alcantara seemed to be on a sure way from Barcelona to Manchester United, but recent reports indicate Bayern Munich as the team that will eventually get to sign the player.
According to Spanish radio station Cadena Cope, that’s usually a bit more accurate about its reports than Sport or Marca, the offer from Bayern Munich has allegedly beaten out both Real Madrid (who had a very small chance of signing him anyway) and Manchester United, who haven’t offered the player enough money, not to mention the chance to reunite with Pep Guardiola.
According to the station, what convinced Thiago to prefer Bayern to remaining in Barcelona or joining Manchester United wasn’t just money, but his chance to play. There are other central midfielders in Bayern Munich, more than United have, but Guardiola spoke with Thiago and his father about the option of moving Javi Martinez to central defender (although it doesn’t really make sense considering th personnel he has), and giving Thiago more chances in the middle.
It’s summer, so it’s always impossible to know what’s true and what’s not until we see Thiago officially presented by either club. For now, it seems that United have a problem – they can’t compete with certain clubs financially, while the appeal they had when Alex Ferguson was in charge is gone, as David Moyes hardly has a name that’s recognizable in Europe.
For Barcelona, in all likelihood Barcelona B midfielder Sergi Roberto will be promoted to take Thiago’s place in the squad, despite certain rumors coming from Catalan media outlets suggesting almost every young, talented and expensive player in a similar position from around Europe.