All eyes are on 22-year-old Barcelona midfielder, Thiago Alcantara, after a number of impressive displays in the Under-21 European Championships in Israel. The Barcelona starlet who had been a stand out performer in the tournament, saved his best for the final as he scored a first half hat-trick to put Spain on their way to beating Italy.
It seems as though Thiago has enjoyed being the centre piece of the team and has really flurished as captain of Spain’s Under-21’s side. The son of Brazil World Cup winner Mazinho, Thiago has shown the world what he is capable of and Manchester United who have been long admirers of the Spaniard are looking to swoop this summer.
With competition at Barcelona being so intense, Thiago has found it hard to break into the first team with the likes of Xavi, Iniesta and Fabregas keeping him out. It has surfaced this summer that the initial buy out clause of £77million in Thiago’s contract has dropped to £15million – which opens him up to be the bargain of the window.
Thiago is now tipped to be David Moyes’ first signing as Manchester United Manager as he was an admirer of the Spaniards talents for many years as Everton boss.
Speculation also grew when on the match ball – that Thiago recieved for his hat-trick in the European Under-21s Championship final – was a message from United goalkeeper David De Gea. The message read ‘Nos Vemos en Manchester’ which translates to ‘see you in Manchester’. Could this be a result of a conversation between the two? Or is it just simply a joke between team mates. Either way Thiago unlike Cesc Fabregas has not denied the rumours which could indicate that a move to Old Trafford to secure first team football is on the cards. Is this finally the replacement for Paul Scholes?
It looks like United are also poised to capture another national team captain. Kevin Strootman (23) who captained the Holland Under-21s side in the European Champions is set to move to Old Trafford this summer.
There are a number of clubs queing for the PSV Eidhoven midfielder, including Napoli as well as clubs in France and Russia but Strootmans agent, Chiel Dekker has revealed that England attracts him.
“He is focussed on England because that would suit his style,” said Dekker.
“He has the physique, the character and the fitness for it. I am certainly not afraid he could handle that level.”, he added.
Manchester Uniteds Chief Scout, Jim Lawlor watched Strootman play in Israel for the Holland Under-21s side and it is said that he liked what he saw.
Strootman has also played for the senior Holland international side, with 18 caps and one goal as well as captaining Holland once.
There are reports already coming out that this is a done deal but we will have to wait and see. It’s thought that a fee in the region of around £15million would be enough for PSV Eindhoven to let their star man go.
To sum up…
If the two players above do sign for Manchester United this summer, I see the Reds dominating English football for many years to come.
Although the two mentioned players are both central midfielders, they both play a completely different game.
Thiago is the flare player of the two, a player in the mould of the likes of Juan Mata, David Silva, Santi Carzola, etc. He will find the gap between the midfield and the defense, he will both create and score goals and will add a faster pace to the passing – something which has been missing since Paul Scholes began to age. Many fans will question this signing as United already have Shinji Kagawa in that role but Thiago is a huge and young talent and for such a low price, passing up on signing him would be a big mistake.
Kevin Strootman is a different type of midfielder. I wouldn’t call him a defensive midfielder (although his tackling ability is superb) I would say he is more of a Roy Keane type player – in his early days. He can do almost anything: tackle, pass, shoot, dribble – he is more of an all-in-one central midfielder, as was Keane.
If United managed to sign Thiago and Strootman it would be huge. They are two of the hottest prospects around and would shape the Manchester United midfield for a decade – I think this could be something similar to the Scholes and Keane combination, with Carrick still controlling the game and using his experience to coach the new generation.
Possible line-up for next season:
De Gea, Rafael, Vidic, Ferdinand, Evra, Strootman, Carrick, Thiago, Rooney, Kagawa, Van Persie
Just to add, I’m not sure when it happened or if it means anything but a video of Thiago signing a United shirt has surfaced. Here it is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoUSGPcVAQ0
Tell me what you think…
Red It - Alex Carey 