One rumour that looks set to establish a promotion to “transfer saga” status this summer, is Manchester United’s pursuit of Barcelona’s highly-rated youngster, Thiago Alcantara.
Despite reports that Barcelona were lining Thiago up as the man to take over Xavi’s glittering mantle when his legs begin to tire, a lack of playing opportunities could lead the frustrated young Spaniard to seek a role away from the Camp Nou.
The son of Brazilian 1994 World Cup winner Mazinho has been followed closely by Europe’s elite ever since making his first appearance for the Barcelona first team in May 2009. In 2011 his stock increased yet further when he made his senior international debut for Spain against Italy, but Thiago has perhaps received most global acclaim due to his performances for the U21 side.
In 2011 Thiago set the European U21 Championships alight with his vision and technical ability. He rounded off some dazzling displays with a stunning 40-yard free-kick in the final against Switzerland to see Spain crowned champions, picking up the award for player of the tournament in the process.
Currently in Israel competing in the 2013 European U21 Championships, the attacking midfielder will no doubt be hoping to continue to establish himself as retain the accolades accrued last time the event took place, and once more confirm his status as one of world football’s most exciting talents.
The player once singled out by former boss Pep Guardiola as “a special talent” is however, reported to be increasingly infuriated with spending most of this season on the sidelines.
In February Thiago was quoted saying “I’m enjoying watching my team-mates, but obviously what I really want is to get as many minutes as I can.”
Despite experiencing a steady increase in first team involvement under Guardiola, the player has seen his progression stutter somewhat under Tito Vilanova as first team appearances dropped from 45 appearances in 2011/12 to just 36 last season.
The decision to limit Thiago’s first team chances has not only risked harming the midfielder’s happiness, but due to overlooking a clause in his contract, Barcelona have put themselves in an extremely precarious position which could result in them losing a world class talent for a massively cut-price.
As is the norm for Barcelona youngsters that are regarded by the club as integral to the team’s future, Thiago’s recent contract included a huge minimum fee release clause reported to be around €90m. However, in the case of this deal there was entwined a further intricacy that stated something to the effect: if the player didn’t play over 60% of Barcelona’s playing time, the minimum fee release clause would drop to around €18m, a fraction of the original fee.
Clearly over the course of last season the owners of the Catalan club suffered some form of miscommunication, or perhaps just forgot about this subtlety. If, as we are led to believe, Man United and the host of other clubs rumoured to be interested in the midfielder decide to come in and match the reduced minimum fee release clause, the decision as to whether Thiago will remain at the Nou Camp next season or not, will be out of Barcelona’s hands.
With the player’s future hanging in the balance, the situation is likely to remain unresolved for a while yet as nothing will be decided before the end of the U21 Euros and the Confederation Cup. When the Spaniard was last asked about his future he delivered the ominous answer “we’ll see what happens”. (Source: Marca)
For Barcelona the wait is sure to be one of their most uncomfortable as they wait to hear whether this administrative slip and case of poor management will ultimately lead to them losing one of the brightest graduates of La Masia since Lionel Messi, for a fraction of his worth.
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