Thiago Alcantara | Pool bound

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Traub

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Bayern let Kroos go when there were contract issues, so I wouldn't be skeptical about that aspect.
 

Gopher Brown

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Come to United and give us a different dimension where a player has absolutely no problem keeping the ball whilst surrounded by 3-4 other players. We might actually create more chances with him being able to do that instead of having the only option of using speed. Sometimes precision and timing is just as important. I love Bruno but he’s just turned up to 100 at all times.
Good! The game is about getting that fecking ball in the fecking net, not retaining possession.
 

pcaming

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Would be a great addition for Europe as well as some bigger matches. I don't think it's a risk like Sanchez, where he was already in decline at Arsenal, he's been performing at a very high level.
 

seegoblu

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For €60m you can get both Thiago and David Alaba from Bayern and through their combined positional flexibility (which it looks like Ole values) you could cover LCB, LB, DM, CM and CAM.

With Sancho filling the hole at RW for €100m, you’ve spent the rumored £140m transfer kitty and filled the immediate needs of the club. Any player sales could be converted into wonderkid signings for the future (Camavinga for €50m or Upemancano for the same, etc.)
 

croadyman

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For €60m you can get both Thiago and David Alaba from Bayern and through their combined positional flexibility (which it looks like Ole values) you could cover LCB, LB, DM, CM and CAM.

With Sancho filling the hole at RW for €100m, you’ve spent the rumored £140m transfer kitty and filled the immediate needs of the club. Any player sales could be converted into wonderkid signings for the future (Camavinga for €50m or Upemancano for the same, etc.)
Pretty sure Alaba only wants either Madrid or Barcelona and still see Thiago joining the scousers eventually
 

Pep's Suit

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I don't think he's that good. Age, injuries, started only 20/34 league games for Bayern and never reached that Top3-5 CM in the world level so many people were expecting.
 

seegoblu

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Pretty sure Alaba only wants either Madrid or Barcelona and still see Thiago joining the scousers eventually
Given the public stance from both Spanish clubs, they don’t seem to be an option for Alaba. Definitely worth asking about with his agents. At a minimum we should ask about Thiago at a minimum to drive up the price for Liverpool
 

Superunknown

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I haven't followed this player for some time, but I remember the hype around him in his early days. Did he fulfil his potential at Bayern?
I'm just looking at his league starters for the 7 seasons that he has been at Baynern: 16, 7, 27, 27, 19, 30 24. Has he had injury issues? He's slightly older than I thought at 29, too.

Might be able to get a couple or so good seasons out of him, and that price isn't too terrible.
 

#07

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30m is too cheap to not take him for a few years
Agreed. The question people need to ask themselves is not do we need him for 50-60 games. The question is when we badly need to rotate cos Pogba and Bruno are exhausted would you rather rely on Thiago to be your playmaker or Fred/McTominay?

People saying he's injured a lot. That's fine. We only really need him for when Pogba or Bruno need a night off. Andreas Pereira has played 37 times for United this season. If Thiago can take the bulk of those games we'll have massively moved forward as a squad.
 

tob

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We should be all over this deal. He's the type of player we need in midfield.
 

Highfather_24

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He would be the perfect backup for Bruno/Pogba. Is an extremely intelligent footballer, brilliant passer and very creative as well. Fantastic at retaining the ball and breaking the press. Exactly the kind of midfielder we need urgently.

For 30M it would be a fecking steal.
 

croadyman

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He would be the perfect backup for Bruno/Pogba. Is an extremely intelligent footballer, brilliant passer and very creative as well. Fantastic at retaining the ball and breaking the press. Exactly the kind of midfielder we need urgently.

For 30M it would be a fecking steal.
I wouldn't argue with that at and I am all for going there instead of Grealish/VDB, however I get the strong impression that Ole isn't willing to change his transfer strategy for him.
 

davidmichael

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I think at £30 million and as back up to Fernandes and Pogba you can’t really go wrong with Thiago UNLESS there are injury issues and that’s why Bayern are happy to let him go so cheap, after Hargreaves and Schweinsteiger I’m very skeptical of Bayern letting a genuine class player go so cheap.

I know Grealish would be a better long term investment but not at anything north of £50 million in the current climate and if I’m honest I’m not sold on Van Der Beek either, with Thiago you’d be getting an extremely experienced player that’s played at the very highest level and still under 30 so could get a few seasons from him.
 

croadyman

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I think at £30 million and as back up to Fernandes and Pogba you can’t really go wrong with Thiago UNLESS there are injury issues and that’s why Bayern are happy to let him go so cheap, after Hargreaves and Schweinsteiger I’m very skeptical of Bayern letting a genuine class player go so cheap.

I know Grealish would be a better long term investment but not at anything north of £50 million in the current climate and if I’m honest I’m not sold on Van Der Beek either, with Thiago you’d be getting an extremely experienced player that’s played at the very highest level and still under 30 so could get a few seasons from him.
Yeah that is a very valid point indeed and would be happy to not get Grealish if I honestly believed we could get him over the scousers but still got major doubts on that.
 

hellhunter

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In what world would Thiago agree to come here as cover for anyone? We're the third best team in the country, I cannot see Thiago sitting in that teams bench, he would want more.
 

davidmichael

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In what world would Thiago agree to come here as cover for anyone? We're the third best team in the country, I cannot see Thiago sitting in that teams bench, he would want more.
Who says Thiago would agree to come as back up ? He’d probably have confidence in himself to be a starter and could end up as such as it would only take Fernandes or Pogba to be off form and obviously Ole wouldn’t sell it to him as “listen lad, you’re coming in as back up, how does that sound ? You up for it ?” but it’d be up to Thiago to prove he should start and we should want there to be a fight for a starting place in our team.
 

UNITED ACADEMY

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In what world would Thiago agree to come here as cover for anyone? We're the third best team in the country, I cannot see Thiago sitting in that teams bench, he would want more.
Thiago has the ability to rotate with Pogba. He has more chance to compete with Pogba rather than Grealish does, Thiago is likely to share games with Pogba if he comes here. I think Bayern used our name to get Liverpool meet their price, the rumour has been slowing down lately. However, I won't be surprised if Thiago is in our watch.
 

beingshe7don

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If need be, I can see Thiago even feature in the No. 6 role. His long passes are very accurate. The only issue is if the opposition keeper resorts to goal kicks, we may miss Matic's aerial presence but as a No. 8, I think he would fit in well with either Pogba or Bruno. So I could see him getting plenty of gametime.
 

meamth

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Why the feck he wants to be backup for Bruno for Pogba?

Doesn't make sense this transfer.
 

tenpoless

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If we sign Sancho and Thiago in one window I'd celebrate it by running around my apartment complex butt naked.
This one won't happen.
 

beingshe7don

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Why the feck he wants to be backup for Bruno for Pogba?

Doesn't make sense this transfer.
He's 29 already and is looking to move to a club which will pay him the huge wages. Enters Ed. Also, United was one of his choices he was considering before he moved to Bayern. Also, De Gea is one of his close friends. But if he's promised enough playing time, it could turn out to be an attractive option. Pogba and Bruno aren't going to play every game. In fact, Thiago may start ahead of Pogba if the latter's form suffers.
 

Eddy_JukeZ

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I think for 30 mil, it'd be madness to not inquire about him.

He's an excellent player.
 

Fortitude

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His knees... how long since the last time he had anything wrong with them?

If fit and able, one of the best additions to the squad we could get, but... he's also good enough to put Pogba or Bruno's nose out of joint as 3 into two doesn't go and Pogba isn't a DM.

Not something people will want to hear, but: Pogba going to full time AM with Thiago and a DM behind him is probably the best utilisation of personnel we would have. Not fair on Bruno though, is it?
 

red woppit

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Think we would only go for him if Pogba leaves. We could sign him for two seasons, with an option for a third (think he may want more), then hopefully some of our academy graduates will be pushing him for his place. Seems to have the ability to get himself out of tight situations, something Pogba struggles with, when he tries to use his strength. The academy lads could all learn from him by watching closely how he does it by using subtle body movements and feints, doing the unexpected.
 

E-mal

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That 80m for Grealish could get us Thiago and Partey and we'd comfortably have the best midfield in the world.

Thiago/Partey/Pogba
Thiago/Partey/Bruno
Bruno/Partey/ Pogba
Bruno/Thiago/Pogba
Then keep Matic and Scott and sell Fred.
 

Eddy_JukeZ

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His knees... how long since the last time he had anything wrong with them?

If fit and able, one of the best additions to the squad we could get, but... he's also good enough to put Pogba or Bruno's nose out of joint as 3 into two doesn't go and Pogba isn't a DM.

Not something people will want to hear, but: Pogba going to full time AM with Thiago and a DM behind him is probably the best utilisation of personnel we would have. Not fair on Bruno though, is it?
Could also sell Pogba if we got a really offer for him(provided Thiago stays fit).

I don't know if Pogba can match Bruno's production though. Bruno is insanely productive.
 

Eddy_JukeZ

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So we have 7 1st team midfielders. Good luck with keeping them happy.

Oh and Mctominay might have to move away or on loan if Thiago comes in .
There's plenty of games to go around.

We only have 3 1st team midfielders at the moment that Ole trusts in big games. We need more quality.
 

tob

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Why do people think he'd have to be a replacement or a back up for either Pogba or Fernandes? He'd fit in perfectly alongside both of them.
 

Fortitude

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Could also sell Pogba if we got a really offer for him(provided Thiago stays fit).

I don't know if Pogba can match Bruno's production though. Bruno is insanely productive.
Thiago's not someone to bet the house on in terms of his fitness and there's also an issue of seeing him deliver here before considering moving anyone of the quality of Pogba on. Thaigo's great in certain elements: press resistant, masterful in combination plays, intelligent and a consistent metronome, but he hasn't got the range of passing of Pogba, nor his array of other qualities, so you're sacrificing a fair bit and changing the team dynamic a lot taking a multi-faceted threat out for someone whose a specialist in a specific style of play. Personally, I'd never do that as Pogba's a player with a lot more untapped potential and someone who I think we've only seen a percentage of what he can end up being.

With regard to Bruno and Pogba, the biggest difference between the two in terms of productivity is Bruno plays without hesitancy or restriction, which he's afforded to do in the position we've put him in. He makes high risk plays and attempts and worries about the fallout after the fact, if Pogba did the same - and he did for that period where he was scoring and looking like a force - he can match that productivity quite comfortably, imo. Not putting Fernandes down, rather acknowledging just how special a talent Pogba is.

Regardless, if Thiago came here, both Bruno and Pogba may well have an issue because he is good enough to be a starter, and unless we utilise a diamond, have one of them benched or rotated out situationally, which I don't think would go down well.
 

TheNewEra

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That 80m for Grealish could get us Thiago and Partey and we'd comfortably have the best midfield in the world.

Thiago/Partey/Pogba
Thiago/Partey/Bruno
Bruno/Partey/ Pogba
Bruno/Thiago/Pogba
Then keep Matic and Scott and sell Fred.
It makes complete sense with those options, since it would mean the CB partner could be made after that point, the midfield would be sorted for years to come with those players.

Those midfield permutations would mean challenging on all fronts.

That's unless Grealish was available for £45M and Villa dropped their valuation, which means Grealish would have to force a move.
 

Infra-red

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If by some miracle we have any money left after we get the Sancho deal over the line, I very much doubt that it will be spent on a 29 year old #8 with a bad injury record!

There's no way that this is happening.
 

RU Devil

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Considering how many here are moaning about how would he fit in our midfield or get enough games, how much PT does he get at Liverpool? Does he beat out Fabinho? Surely not Hendo, but maybe Wijnaldum, plus there is always Keita & Oxlade-Chamberlain. I'd think he'd be under more pressure at Liverpool considering their gegenpressing & high octane pace. I do see Klopp trying to find another piece to augment the team, but I wonder how much impact he'd have. Figure he'd have more of a relative impact here instead of Liverpool, but maybe Thiago just prefers Klopp over Ole.
 

Cassidy

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Considering how many here are moaning about how would he fit in our midfield or get enough games, how much PT does he get at Liverpool? Does he beat out Fabinho? Surely not Hendo, but maybe Wijnaldum, plus there is always Keita & Oxlade-Chamberlain. I'd think he'd be under more pressure at Liverpool considering their gegenpressing & high octane pace. I do see Klopp trying to find another piece to augment the team, but I wonder how much impact he'd have. Figure he'd have more of a relative impact here instead of Liverpool, but maybe Thiago just prefers Klopp over Ole.
He would be the first name on the team sheet at pool.
 
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