There was an incredible compensation package on offer.
There was sure guarantee of first team football in one of the powerhouses of English football.
The club’s pursuit though arduous and drawn out had been relentless.
It was a sewn deal, or was it?
The taste of Thiago Alcantara’s flippant snub of Manchester United must still be bitter in the throats of Manchester United fans worldwide who had been dreaming of having the silky midfielder’s displays to bolster the team’s lines. And frankly the red devils’ middle ranks recently have been bereft of quality since Paul Scholes’ stock diminished in the center of the park due to his advanced age leaving Man Utd relying heavily on wing play and a potent attacking threat to make up for their midfield inadequacies. Thiago’s proposed move would have gone a long way in ensuring United’s attacking threat from the center improved greatly and the team’s formidability.
Unbelievably though, with just a wistful declaration of a longing for the Spanish prodigy, Pep Guardiola virtually snatched him right out from under the noses of Man Utd and despite their pain-staking wooing attempts and mouthwatering offer, an agreement was announced by Bayern to be completed imminently. Given that Bayern Munich already had an unbeatable midfield combination in Toni Kroos, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Javi Martinez further bolstered by the summer recruitment of Mario Gotze, one would assume that Thiago’s preferred choice will be Old Trafford where a guarantee of better first team opportunities were higher (his primary reason for leaving Barcelona) but both pundits and bookies alike were completely thrown off their seats when the agreement was announced.
Like this columnist earlier posited in the article “Manchester Red or Everton Blue: Will Moyes replicate Sir Alex’s success or cripple his legacy?” Man utd’s stock was sure to take a sizeable dent following the brazen appointment of David Moyes and the Thiago saga reinforces that claim. The general perception now is that the club is undergoing a transition period under the management of someone whose ability at best is a gamble and there is a lot of uncertainty surrounding the club making it a difficult choice for any young footballer aspiring greatness talk less a wunderkind like Thiago.
And I fully expect their equally brash bid for compatriot Cesc Fabregas or indeed any other world-class player to fail for much the same reason. So unless some success comes the way of “our less than noisy neighbors” pretty soon they might just have to keep settling for the DarrenBents and Scott Parker types until they get a reputable coach or “Sir” Moyes finally gets around to winning ways.
Source: DSX
