Thiago Alcantara

[MadMike]

The RW is a priority (as should be the left back position) but if there aren't players available there isn't much we can do. I don't know why we didn't try to get Mahrez who would have fit us, and why we didn't sign Shaqiri who was cheap and could have been a decent squad player (similar in quality to Lingard and Mata but offers something different).

If a player of Thiago's quality is available then we should sign him IMO. He'll compliment Pogba very well and can be the playmaker that we are missing. Pogba is a brilliant player but he will never dictate games and Thiago is actually good at it.

To say there are no right wingers is a bit outrageous. We're allegedly interested in Willian. Pulisic is on the market. Maybe Mourinho thinks Perisic (who is right footed and swapped sides during WC final and semi-final) can play on the right. There's probably other options we don't even know of. Being slow to get a deal done, or being scared to shell out big money for 30 year olds doesn't mean we should shell it where the improvement would be minimal.

Secondly I honestly don't think Thiago compliments Pogba at all, based on the way Mourinho likes to play. Mourinho doesn't play tiki-taka football with metronomic midfielders. He plays direct football with early balls into wingers/strikers and runners from midfield. He plays with quick transitions. He plays with one anchor and two box-to-box high intensity/speed players, hence the acquisition of Fred to accompany Pogba. Matic is the anchor, with Pereira the understudy for the role. We're good for the anchor role and Thiago wouldn't play that deep for us anyway. I just don't believe he fits the Mourinho United.

 

[SV_Planegg]

Does not start for Spain in his absolute prime years despite Iniesta having basically retired in China.

Bayern openly want to sell.

Barca who know him do not go for him.

Pep who knows him does not go for him.

Doesn't have any memorable CL performance that I can think of except against Arsenal a couple of yours ago.

Injury prone.

Hmmmmm.

So ThiagON?

 

[Jim Beam]

I still rate him a lot. He hasn't developed as much as everyone thought he should, holds on the ball too much at times, but he is still a great player when on form and one who can dictate the tempo of the game what we are missing. As @Revan said I think he would compliment Pogba and push him further forward in the attack. He is 27 which are prime years for the type of midfielder he is.

Saying that the move doesn't make much sense, looking at the way we play and our squad. We are a team who tries to rely more on quick transition and counter, so I don't think it would be a good fit at all. We bought Fred, we extended Fellaini contract, Pereria looks good and there are other issues that should be more of a priority.

In short, I don't believe we are even considering him and it's the same story from his perspective. I would personally love, though, if we did look for this kind of player who would enable us to play with a different approach and give us a bit more control in games, but that's another matter.

Edit: just see the second part of MadMike last post and yeah, that's pretty much it

 

[Nick7]

Wtf, of course he is

Is this one of those "he doesnt play for United so he must be miles better" things? Because you're not correct.

 

[Raoul]

Does not start for Spain in his absolute prime years despite Iniesta having basically retired in China.

Bayern openly want to sell.

Barca who know him do not go for him.

Pep who knows him does not go for him.

Doesn't have any memorable CL performance that I can think of except against Arsenal a couple of yours ago.

Injury prone.

Hmmmmm.

Clearly better than our WC winner then.

 

[AltiUn]

Is this one of those "he doesnt play for United so he must be miles better" things? Because you're not correct.

More like "I've never watched him so he must be miles better".

 

[Zlatattack]

He might not be a typical Mourinho signing, but I think a better manager would get a lot more out of him. He should still be down the list of priorities - RW first!

 

[Kazi]

More like "I've never watched him so he must be miles better".

Been watching him since the u/21 World Cup, he’s miles ahead of Pogba afaic

 

[Revan]

Neither of them is miles better than the other for crying out loud. Thiago has been the better player for the majority of their careers (understandably though considering that he is 2-3 years older) and had a better season but Pogba had a much better world cup. At the moment they are around the same level, but quite different to each other as players.

 

[Ish]

Neither of them is miles better than the other for crying out loud. Thiago has been the better player for the majority of their careers (understandably though considering that he is 2-3 years older) and had a better season but Pogba had a much better world cup. At the moment they are around the same level, but quite different to each other as players.

Yeah they’d compliment each other well, but with the signing of Fred - it’s hard to see how to accommodate all of them (assuming Matic is a guaranteed starter).

Unless we switch to a midfield diamond with Sanchez and Lukaku up top? Or Pogba in a wide type role in a 4-3-3 of sorts? But our fullbacks aren’t good enough in an attacking sense to provide the width IMO. We’d have brilliant midfield options if this were true though, for sure

 

[Jim Beam]

Pretty ridiculous to even make comparisons with Pogba. Not the same type of players with completely different strengths.

 

[RedCurry]

Does not start for Spain in his absolute prime years despite Iniesta having basically retired in China.

Bayern openly want to sell.

Barca who know him do not go for him.

Pep who knows him does not go for him.

Doesn't have any memorable CL performance that I can think of except against Arsenal a couple of yours ago.

Injury prone.

Hmmmmm.

But better than Pogba who just won the WC.

 

[Revan]

Yeah they’d compliment each other well, but with the signing of Fred - it’s hard to see how to accommodate all of them (assuming Matic is a guaranteed starter).

Unless we switch to a midfield diamond with Sanchez and Lukaku up top? Or Pogba in a wide type role in a 4-3-3 of sorts? But our fullbacks aren’t good enough in an attacking sense to provide the width IMO. We’d have brilliant midfield options if this were true though, for sure

Fred is a total unknown quality at the moment. Could be great, could be shit. If we have the chance to sign Thiago, would be madness to not do so cause we have Fred. And well, you cannot ever have too many top players. If Fred is all that, he can be a rotation option and we sell Herrera.

 

[vidic blood & sand]

Wasn't he the transfer muppet saga of the summer in 2013?

 

[RedorDead21]

He's comfortably good enough for a first team place here when fit. He's also a player I just don't see Jose going to in a million years in his attempt to bridge the gap with City. Just like he wasn't ever going to sign Mahrez.

 

[Fraud]

He's comfortably good enough for a first team place here when fit. He's also a player I just don't see Jose going to in a million years in his attempt to bridge the gap with City. Just like he wasn't ever going to sign Mahrez.

He signed Cesc to win the league, tho.

 

[Sandikan]

Wasn't he the transfer muppet saga of the summer in 2013?

Yep. No ideas why this thread keeps getting bumped!
(except for my bump obviously!)

 

[harms]

He signed Cesc to win the league, tho.

Cesc was much more direct and spent many years in English football. A shame, as Pogba-DM-Thiago midfield would've been amazing, but not for Jose's tactics.

 

[Jim Beam]

Cesc was much more direct and spent many years in English football. A shame, as Pogba-DM-Thiago midfield would've been amazing, but not for Jose's tactics.

True, just mouthwatering. Won't happen though.

 

[Fer]

I really like Thiago, he's one of the best midfielders. But, I would prefer to give Pereira an opportunity. Also, Fred could be balance our midfield next to Pogba and Matic.

I rather spend that money in a RW.

 

[JPRouve]

Does not start for Spain in his absolute prime years despite Iniesta having basically retired in China.

Bayern openly want to sell.

Barca who know him do not go for him.

Pep who knows him does not go for him.

Doesn't have any memorable CL performance that I can think of except against Arsenal a couple of yours ago.

Injury prone.

Hmmmmm.

His japanese club might be upset about that.

 

[tedketterman]

Been watching him since the u/21 World Cup, he’s miles ahead of Pogba afaic

Are you his mother? Are you a United fan? What possible reason could anyone have to follow one specific footballer's career so closely if they weren't a family member?

 

[JPRouve]

Are you his mother? Are you a United fan? What possible reason could anyone have to follow one specific footballer's career so closely if they weren't a family member?

Simply a lover of Football. Spain are great to watch at youth level and youth tournament are generally fun anyway, Barcelona and Bayern are pretty big teams that people will often watch on top of the club they support.

 

[Kush]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

On his way to Madrid.

 

[Nostradamus]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

On his way to Madrid.

Sure, if this laughable source says so.

 

[MarkK]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

On his way to Madrid.

To be honest, I can't see us sell him that easily. Many Bayern fans are not too happy with this transfer window and the board are under pressure to show that Bayern are still serious contenders in Europe. That being said, we have a surplus of players in midfield right now as Leon Goretzka has been added to the squad and it seems that the new coach has been given the task to integrate Renato Sanches who has matured a bit in his terrible spell at Swansea. It would still either have to be a very high transfer fee or a swap with a player in a position that Bayern needs to be strengthened in. I would swap him with Asensio in a minute but I'm afraid Real will not do us the favour.

 

[Adam-Utd]

Barca should have never sold him really, that was a calamitous decision

 

[JPRouve]

Barca should have never sold him really, that was a calamitous decision

They didn't sold him, he had a release clause that would be decreased if he didn't reach a certain amount of games. The funny thing is that iirc, he only needed to start one more game in order to keep his relatively high clause.

 

[ayushreddevil9]

Some Barcelona fans claiming that he will reject any move to Spain. Citing his Catalan roots.

 

[carvajal]

To be honest, I can't see us sell him that easily. Many Bayern fans are not too happy with this transfer window and the board are under pressure to show that Bayern are still serious contenders in Europe. That being said, we have a surplus of players in midfield right now as Leon Goretzka has been added to the squad and it seems that the new coach has been given the task to integrate Renato Sanches who has matured a bit in his terrible spell at Swansea. It would still either have to be a very high transfer fee or a swap with a player in a position that Bayern needs to be strengthened in. I would swap him with Asensio in a minute but I'm afraid Real will not do us the favour.

Asensio .
For what I've been reading Madrid offer 50 and Bayern want 60. To be honest I do not trust much Bayern, that except a few cases (as the gift of Kroos) do not sell, and if they do It is because the player is not good enough. My preferred option would be a loan, with or without purchase option

 

[Adam-Utd]

They didn't sold him, he had a release clause that would be decreased if he didn't reach a certain amount of games. The funny thing is that iirc, he only needed to start one more game in order to keep his relatively high clause.

Ah yes, that's even worse than I remember idiots.

 

[schwalbe]

Thiago is not good enough for a team which wants to win something, I'd still prefer we keep him though. We have too many midfielders but he offers something a bit different, having all three of Goretzka, Tolisso and Sanches doesn't make sense though.

 

[Revan]

No disrespect to Fred, but if Thiago was available for 50-60m but we signed Fred for 50m, then there is something really wrong with us.

 

[MyOnlySolskjaer]

Wish we got him before Bayern. I’m happy with Fred though, probably a better option fitness wise. Looking forward to seeing more of him.

 

[Bubz27]

No disrespect to Fred, but if Thiago was available for 50-60m but we signed Fred for 50m, then there is something really wrong with us.

Pep not being in for Thiago when he's worked closely with him before and is desperate for a midfielder of similar ilk, makes me think we're okay with Fred. Pep was also heavily linked with Fred as well.

 

[NinjaFletch]

No disrespect to Fred, but if Thiago was available for 50-60m but we signed Fred for 50m, then there is something really wrong with us.

17/18    Strain    Mar 15, 2018    Mar 19, 2018    4 days    1
17/18    Muscle partial avulsion    Nov 23, 2017    Feb 12, 2018    81 days    13
17/18    Knee contusion    Nov 16, 2017    Nov 20, 2017    4 days    1
17/18    Torn Collateral Ligament    Oct 9, 2017    Oct 12, 2017    3 days    -
17/18    Pubis bone contusion    Sep 21, 2017    Sep 25, 2017    4 days    1
17/18    Abdominal muscles injury    Aug 3, 2017    Aug 21, 2017    18 days    3
17/18    Calf Injury    Jul 20, 2017    Jul 31, 2017    11 days    -
16/17    Hamstring Injury    Jan 9, 2017    Feb 2, 2017    24 days    2
16/17    Minor wound    Oct 31, 2016    Nov 3, 2016    3 days    1
16/17    Muscular problems    Sep 29, 2016    Oct 3, 2016    4 days    1
16/17    Minor wound    Aug 18, 2016    Aug 22, 2016    4 days    1
15/16    Ligament Injury    Nov 16, 2015    Dec 10, 2015    24 days    5
15/16    Influenza    Aug 3, 2015    Aug 10, 2015    7 days    1
14/15    Knock    Apr 30, 2015    Apr 30, 2015    0 days    -
14/15    Intraarticular ligament crack knee    Oct 16, 2014    Mar 19, 2015    154 days    26
13/14    Ruptured intraarticular ligament initiation in knee    May 15, 2014    Oct 6, 2014    144 days    12
13/14    Ruptured intraarticular ligament initiation in knee    Mar 31, 2014    May 5, 2014    35 days    15
13/14    thigh knock    Mar 20, 2014    Mar 24, 2014    4 days    2
13/14    Syndesmotic ligament tear    Aug 26, 2013    Nov 14, 2013    80 days    25
13/14    Fever    Aug 8, 2013    Aug 12, 2013    4 days    2

I wonder why me might not be keen?

 

[Revan]

17/18    Strain    Mar 15, 2018    Mar 19, 2018    4 days    1
17/18    Muscle partial avulsion    Nov 23, 2017    Feb 12, 2018    81 days    13
17/18    Knee contusion    Nov 16, 2017    Nov 20, 2017    4 days    1
17/18    Torn Collateral Ligament    Oct 9, 2017    Oct 12, 2017    3 days    -
17/18    Pubis bone contusion    Sep 21, 2017    Sep 25, 2017    4 days    1
17/18    Abdominal muscles injury    Aug 3, 2017    Aug 21, 2017    18 days    3
17/18    Calf Injury    Jul 20, 2017    Jul 31, 2017    11 days    -
16/17    Hamstring Injury    Jan 9, 2017    Feb 2, 2017    24 days    2
16/17    Minor wound    Oct 31, 2016    Nov 3, 2016    3 days    1
16/17    Muscular problems    Sep 29, 2016    Oct 3, 2016    4 days    1
16/17    Minor wound    Aug 18, 2016    Aug 22, 2016    4 days    1
15/16    Ligament Injury    Nov 16, 2015    Dec 10, 2015    24 days    5
15/16    Influenza    Aug 3, 2015    Aug 10, 2015    7 days    1
14/15    Knock    Apr 30, 2015    Apr 30, 2015    0 days    -
14/15    Intraarticular ligament crack knee    Oct 16, 2014    Mar 19, 2015    154 days    26
13/14    Ruptured intraarticular ligament initiation in knee    May 15, 2014    Oct 6, 2014    144 days    12
13/14    Ruptured intraarticular ligament initiation in knee    Mar 31, 2014    May 5, 2014    35 days    15
13/14    thigh knock    Mar 20, 2014    Mar 24, 2014    4 days    2
13/14    Syndesmotic ligament tear    Aug 26, 2013    Nov 14, 2013    80 days    25
13/14    Fever    Aug 8, 2013    Aug 12, 2013    4 days    2

I wonder why me might not be keen?

Fair point!

 

[MarkK]

Asensio .
For what I've been reading Madrid offer 50 and Bayern want 60. To be honest I do not trust much Bayern, that except a few cases (as the gift of Kroos) do not sell, and if they do It is because the player is not good enough. My preferred option would be a loan, with or without purchase option

They would be stupid to sell him for this sum. As I said, I don't believe a minute that a swap like that is possible but it would be the suggestion I would make if Madrid asked me for the price of Thiago. His price tag should be a lot higher than you suggest. Everything else would be madness.

 

[Blackwidow]

17/18    Strain    Mar 15, 2018    Mar 19, 2018    4 days    1
17/18    Muscle partial avulsion    Nov 23, 2017    Feb 12, 2018    81 days    13
17/18    Knee contusion    Nov 16, 2017    Nov 20, 2017    4 days    1
17/18    Torn Collateral Ligament    Oct 9, 2017    Oct 12, 2017    3 days    -
17/18    Pubis bone contusion    Sep 21, 2017    Sep 25, 2017    4 days    1
17/18    Abdominal muscles injury    Aug 3, 2017    Aug 21, 2017    18 days    3
17/18    Calf Injury    Jul 20, 2017    Jul 31, 2017    11 days    -
16/17    Hamstring Injury    Jan 9, 2017    Feb 2, 2017    24 days    2
16/17    Minor wound    Oct 31, 2016    Nov 3, 2016    3 days    1
16/17    Muscular problems    Sep 29, 2016    Oct 3, 2016    4 days    1
16/17    Minor wound    Aug 18, 2016    Aug 22, 2016    4 days    1
15/16    Ligament Injury    Nov 16, 2015    Dec 10, 2015    24 days    5
15/16    Influenza    Aug 3, 2015    Aug 10, 2015    7 days    1
14/15    Knock    Apr 30, 2015    Apr 30, 2015    0 days    -
14/15    Intraarticular ligament crack knee    Oct 16, 2014    Mar 19, 2015    154 days    26
13/14    Ruptured intraarticular ligament initiation in knee    May 15, 2014    Oct 6, 2014    144 days    12
13/14    Ruptured intraarticular ligament initiation in knee    Mar 31, 2014    May 5, 2014    35 days    15
13/14    thigh knock    Mar 20, 2014    Mar 24, 2014    4 days    2
13/14    Syndesmotic ligament tear    Aug 26, 2013    Nov 14, 2013    80 days    25
13/14    Fever    Aug 8, 2013    Aug 12, 2013    4 days    2

I wonder why me might not be keen?

It did not feel that much as Thiago did not miss the hot parts of the seasons in the last 3 rounds. Even in 14/15 he was back then and played in matches like that against Porto. His longer injuries were always around the winter break.

 

[Jim Beam]

Knew Madrid will be after him but thought Barcelona would be also considering their midfield options and his style of play.

Same age as Modric when he went to Madrid. The price of 50-60 million is a bargain in the current market and considering how much they paid for Kroos and Modric before, it would mean they just continue to find great deals for their midfield. All this, under the assumption he can stay fit for large part of the season.