One of the low points of last summer for Manchester United fans was the club’s pursuit of Barcelona star, Thiago Alcantara. The Spanish sensation batted his eyes at The Red Devils, before hopping on a plane to Germany and signing a long term deal with Bayern Munich.
Some will say that he just wanted to link up with ex-boss Pep Guardiola once more, but I can’t help but wonder if he wasn’t up for playing for somebody as wet behind the ears as David Moyes. Either way, the pursuit of Alcantara and Cesc Fabregas left Manchester United with a fair amount of egg on its face.
With this in the back of my mind, I was interested to see Manchester United pick up a link to Thiago’s baby brother, Rafa Alcantara. In fact, The Mirror suggest that Rafa could be part of a massive Manchester United summer spending spree.
He also plays for Barcelona, but he’s currently out on loan with Celta Vigo, where he’s been picking up plenty of plaudits for his dynamic midfield performances.
He’s known to the fans as ‘Rafinha’ and clearly has a big future ahead of him. It’ll be interesting to see whether he manages to break into the Barcelona first team when he returns to the Nou Camp in the summer. If he doesn’t fancy competing, he could always put pen to paper on a Manchester United deal instead.
He has all the quality necessary to make it at a big club. He’s confident on the ball, has quick feet and isn’t afraid to take the opposition on. I can’t help but feel that he’s exactly what Manchester United need. With his exciting attacking play, he’ll be the perfect counter-balance to Juan Mata’s more considered, slick passing game.
Barcelona will be keen to keep hold of their brightest and best, but given the huge amount of talent present in their midfield, may be flexible. If Manchester United offer the Spanish powerhouse the right amount of cash, I’m sure there’s a deal to be done here.
Whether it’ll be enough to turn their fortunes around, remains to be seen.
What’s your take? Having failed to sign Thiago, will David Moyes be able to wrap up a deal for his brother, Rafa?
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Please do your digging first. At no point did manchester united or moyes chase thiago, they were simply rumors. You will find on various reports that both thiago as well as mufc confirming this.