Friday, 21st June, 2013
Manchester United may face a battle of wills with Barcelona over the possible sale of Thiago Alcantara, with the Premier League champions ready to trigger the player’s release clause, according to El Mundo Deportivo.
Thiago’s performances for Spain’s Under-21 side in this week’s European Championship final, where he scored a hat-trick, have doubled the amount of attention on the question of his future destination.
With Spain’s goalkeeper David de Gea writing "see you in Manchester" on Thiago’s match ball, that possibility was raised further, even if Gerard Pique urged the playmaker to stay in Barcelona.
However, Thiago’s €18m release clause could be activated as he has failed to make the required appearances for La Liga’s champions, and Manchester United will be watching developments closely.
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Indeed, Barcelona will also be paying close attention to the player’s interests, even if the 22-year-old is still on a fringe role thanks to the performances of Xavi and Andres Iniesta.
And speculation continues over whether Thiago will choose a more regular spot at Manchester United under manager David Moyes, with Paul Scholes retiring and Darren Fletcher injured.
De Gea, for one, has moved on from match-ball graffiti to publicly stating a desire for Thiago to make the move to England.
Upon his return to Spain, the goalkeeper was quoted as saying: "Hopefully [Thiago] will come to us. Any United player would wish to have Thiago, who is a very good player."
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