Last Thursday, we reported Manchester United’s interest in making a bid for the Brazilian midfielder Thiago Maia next summer. The Red Devils have been monitoring the 18-year-old for a while now and have let Santos know that they are about to make an official approach soon.
Thiago’s agent Alexis Malavolta has also told Sport Witness that the player has rejected a move to Arsenal as he preferred to stay at Santos, but things could be different should a bid tempt Santos.
But who is Thiago Maia? He may not be known much among European fans, given that he only started playing regularly for Santos last year and the club are not participating in any international competition. So let's talk a bit about him.
Maia is a very complete midfielder. He can defend, pass, dribble and create as a proper box-to-box player. It must be said that none of these skills are done excellently by him, but he’s still a youngster under development. Still, he can do all the jobs a player of his position needs to.
His midfield partner Renato is already 36 years of, his class speaks much louder than his physicality, so Maia must run a lot more to make the defensive protection more solid. And he’s been doing it very well.
Despite making his official debut in 2014, Thiago only became a regular starter for Santos last year. His work rate has conquered the manager's confidence since the beginning, and he has never been dropped to the bench since then.
His good passing skills doesn't mean he's a game organiser or that he can dictate the tempo. Thiago likes going forward and passing the ball simply, so he's not the kind of player who you expect to rearrange a midfield.
After appearances for Brazil’s U17 and U20 sides, Thiago has been called up to play in the Olympics this summer, when he will probably get more notice from European clubs. In our opinion, Manchester United will have a lot more of competition if they only decide to sign him after the tournament.
