Thiago Alcantara | Signed for Bayern Munich

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Mazinho says he knows 'nada' about Thiago plumping for Manchester United


It's been a crazy few days with the Thiago saga and it's got slightly out of control. Catalan newspaper Sport appear to have had a truckload of Skittles delivered and have gone crazy with some front pages over the last week, despite there being very little new information coming from anywhere.
On Friday they had a front page claiming it was ULTIMATUM! time for Thiago, but explained inside that he was going to make his decision before July 15th. On Saturday their front page said Thiago to Manchester United was done, but inside they said he could still move to Bayern Munich or another club. On Sunday they claimed that Manchester United were actively trying to sell Wayne Rooney to Barcelona through agents and today Sport push further, they did mention it yesterday, a huge swap deal involving Thiago and Villa for the England international.

It is widely accepted that he's probably leaving Barcelona by the Spanish press, but they don't have anything to back that up as a definite and there certainly hasn't been anything coming from David Moyes, he refused to speak about players at other clubs during his press conference on Friday. Despite the situation being incredibly frustrating for supporters of both clubs, there's been nothing new which didn't look like speculation.
That is apart from some comments today from Mazinho in Mundo Deportivo, the newspaper have a big article on who should replace Thiago at Barcelona and mention players such as Wilshere and Gundogan, but in the same story they claim to have asked the player's dad about his future.
Mundo say that when they pressed Mazinho he said he knew 'nada' about which club his son had chosen to sign for. Nada is creeping into English itself but means 'nothing', the Brazilian is also claimed to have said that his son is "Calm, because he has a contract."
Mazinho would of course know what his son had decided, he's helped guide the midfielder's career and also acts as his unregistered agent. There is nobody more in the loop than Mazinho so it appears he was simply trying to brush off the questions of Mundo.

He has to maintain a decent relationship with the Catalan press given that his other son, Rafinha, has extended his Barcelona deal before going out on loan. There's no doubt Mazinho will have been at least a little irritated by some of the comments about Thiago in both Mundo and Sport, regarding tax threats and him leaving for money, but he can hardly kick off with them. He's also not likely to confirm to them, through direct quotes, that his son is set for Manchester United.

Probably nothing for Manchester United fans to worry about.
 
He wouldn't say if he knew anyway, would he. Jesus, could you imagine if he broke the news that Thiago had chosen us?
 
Nope but when your emotions govern your thought process, you sometimes forget to process such things rationally.
 
He's got a sweaty armpit....the stresses of negotiating a transfer to United.
 
Exactly how we will have asked him to handle the scenario :D
 
Platato said:
Mazinho says he knows 'nada' about Thiago plumping for Manchester United



It's been a crazy few days with the Thiago saga and it's got slightly out of control. Catalan newspaper Sport appear to have had a truckload of Skittles delivered and have gone crazy with some front pages over the last week, despite there being very little new information coming from anywhere.
On Friday they had a front page claiming it was ULTIMATUM! time for Thiago, but explained inside that he was going to make his decision before July 15th. On Saturday their front page said Thiago to Manchester United was done, but inside they said he could still move to Bayern Munich or another club. On Sunday they claimed that Manchester United were actively trying to sell Wayne Rooney to Barcelona through agents and today Sport push further, they did mention it yesterday, a huge swap deal involving Thiago and Villa for the England international.

It is widely accepted that he's probably leaving Barcelona by the Spanish press, but they don't have anything to back that up as a definite and there certainly hasn't been anything coming from David Moyes, he refused to speak about players at other clubs during his press conference on Friday. Despite the situation being incredibly frustrating for supporters of both clubs, there's been nothing new which didn't look like speculation.
That is apart from some comments today from Mazinho in Mundo Deportivo, the newspaper have a big article on who should replace Thiago at Barcelona and mention players such as Wilshere and Gundogan, but in the same story they claim to have asked the player's dad about his future.
Mundo say that when they pressed Mazinho he said he knew 'nada' about which club his son had chosen to sign for. Nada is creeping into English itself but means 'nothing', the Brazilian is also claimed to have said that his son is "Calm, because he has a contract."
Mazinho would of course know what his son had decided, he's helped guide the midfielder's career and also acts as his unregistered agent. There is nobody more in the loop than Mazinho so it appears he was simply trying to brush off the questions of Mundo.

He has to maintain a decent relationship with the Catalan press given that his other son, Rafinha, has extended his Barcelona deal before going out on loan. There's no doubt Mazinho will have been at least a little irritated by some of the comments about Thiago in both Mundo and Sport, regarding tax threats and him leaving for money, but he can hardly kick off with them. He's also not likely to confirm to them, through direct quotes, that his son is set for Manchester United.

Probably nothing for Manchester United fans to worry about.
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Adriano hasnt aged very well!
 
I think it's a given now that he is definitely leaving Barca; the silence from the player himself is deafining in that respect. I think the real worry for us is that we don't know for sure if he has chosen to leave Barca to come to United; it's all just speculation (granted from many seperate sources). Who knows what other clubs are in the mix behind the scenes? He's one of the top young midfielders in world football, with the potential to be the world's best. Every cat, dog and divil is going to want to try to sign him, be sure about that. If playing time is truly the reason he wants to leave then that should sway things a bit more in our direction; but not by much. Lets hope he makes the right decision, there is not much else we can do but wait and see.
 
I half joked above about how that is how we would have asked him to handle the situation but thinking about it more deeply and probably putting 2+2 together and getting 5:


1. He actually knows nothing about possibly the biggest decision of his son's life, worth noting that he acts as his son's advisor - seems unlikely.

2. The other scenario is that they are trying to get more promises of playing time and perhaps and improved contract from Barca, although leaving them out of the loop like they have done seems a strange way of doing it, especially as time is getting close to the deadline where Barca's position gets very strong. On top of that what promises could they give him that is more concrete than the release clause drop which they have already broken?

3. He's trying to invite other clubs into the mix, again, seems unlikely unless they are pushing for better terms with Barca or United. If they wanted more teams involved in the bidding there would have been stories planted about other clubs by now to make the deal appear more open and inviting rather than this "done deal to United" feel that it has.

4. Thiago's release clause has dropped and despite being one of the most impressive young players in Europe and scoring a hat-trick in the U21 final, nobody is bothering to make any advances for him despite Thiago's team doing all they can to put him out there :lol:

5. Negotiations with United are advanced and our usual "hush hush if you really want to join us" policy has come into action.


I really do believe it's a matter of time.
 
I would be intrigued to know how we conduct our transfers, my understanding was that our initial contact is with the club to agree a price and then the player. Am i being naive?

It seems, in particularly with foreign players, the initial contact is with the player/agent to establish if the player is interested in the move and to agree in principle a move and then to agree a transfer with the club.

Is this what is happening in the Thiago saga, or are we simply crap at negotiating and closing deals?
 
sglowrider said:
Your birthday lunch?
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Nope, my birthday was last week. It's my dartboard pick on when Thiago will announce he's a United man.

This isn't a Sneijder situation. He's not, as far as we know, demanding for 250/week in wages. And if in a few years' time he longs to go back to Barcelona we'll make a killing selling him back. Meanwhile, we'll have bagged another prem trophy or two and gone deep into the CL. It's a win/win for Thiago AND for United. It's ON!
 
The Don said:
Well you can say that of you like. I'm talking about Baines here and its my opinion that there are better, younger and cheaper players in that position.
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He's not better by any stretch of the imagination but personally I'd like to see us go with Fabio if Evra does leave. If he doesn't, Fabio should still start getting phased in.
 
Robson: Balance must be right
United legend Bryan Robson thinks there has been something of an obsession with the club signing a dominant midfield player in recent years.
The former England and Reds captain was an all-action inspiration in the middle of the park during his playing days and the likes of Roy Keane, Paul Ince and Paul Scholes have also been hugely influential figures in the position.
The Reds have been linked with a number of central midfielders following the appointment of David Moyes as manager after Sir Alex Ferguson's final few seasons in charge featured regular debate around incoming transfers in this area.
However, Robson believes the balance of the team may be more important than focusing on any one individual to pull the strings.
"I know with the Manchester United fans, they are used to having a really dominant central midfield player," he told ManUtd.com at the launch of the partnership with Aeroflot. "Like Keaney, Incey, myself and then Scholesy.
"But I think what the fans have got to look at is: Is the balance of the squad pretty good anyway without having that type of player in? You've got to say 'yes' as we won the title by 11 points.
"Now, of course you always want to improve but you've got to look at the balance of Antonio Valencia, Ashley Young, Tom Cleverley, Michael Carrick, Ando [Anderson] and the rest. They are still very, very good players but you've got to look at the balance and is that right, rather than go out and try to get an individual who you must rely on all the time.
"So my message to Manchester United fans is don't be too influenced by this talk that we need this midfield player because I think the boys can cope."
Robson helped announce the new deal with Aeroflot at Old Trafford alongside Andy Cole with the first-team squad and manager Moyes also in attendance.
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Jesus, we'd take Robson out of retirement at this stage and he doesn't think we need a midfielder?
 
His argument doesn't even make sense. He doesn't think we need to rely on one player yet we very clearly rely on Carrick, buying another center mid or two would only take that reliance down.
 
"Now, of course you always want to improve but you've got to look at the balance of Antonio Valencia, Ashley Young, Tom Cleverley, Michael Carrick, Ando [Anderson] and the rest. They are still very, very good players

Ha, good one Robbo.
 
I don't think Paddy Crerand would even be that blinded by bias to suggest our midfield is absolutely fine. :lol:
 
Kid Cunto said:
How have we not signed him yet? This is apparently the most complicated straightforward deal ever.
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Its quite complicated if the player does not actually want to swap Barcelona for Manchester.
 
Robson says the balance is fine, but he can only name 3 central midfielders, because that's all we have. Only Carrick is a very good and established player. Cleverley still has alot to prove, and Anderson is Anderson.

It's not about dominant midfielders. It's about midfielders who are very good and can stay fit. We have one who fits the bill.
 
"So my message to Manchester United fans is don't be too influenced by this talk that we need this midfield player because I think the boys can cope."
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Well that's me satisfied. Robson thinks we can cope.

Blow the kitty/warchest on Baines and Garay and lets move on.
 
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