Emerging midfield maestro Thiago Alcantara was growing sick of being stuck behind legends Xavi and Iniesta in the Barcelona engine room.
After a strong showing at the European under-21 championships, where he led Spain to victory in the final, he wanted to gain a regular starting spot in top-level European club football.
Despite being encouraged to bide his time and eventually fill the void left by Xavi once the 33-year-old calls it quits, Thiago decided he had to move on.
English champions Manchester United immediately showed a strong interest in his signature, but could not close the deal.
While there may have been several reasons for United’s failure to land Thiago, one was almost certainly not a lack of playing time.
He would have competed for a starting midfield role at United with the likes of Michael Carrick, Shinji Kagawa and Tom Cleverley. All are quality players, but hardly in the same class as his Barcelona teammates.
Given his potential, he could have become a linchpin in the United midfield for years to come – a vital cog.
Instead, Thiago opted to join former coach Pep Guardiola and his already star-studded squad at Bayern Munich.
The Champions League winners reportedly paid up to $25 million for Thiago’s services, despite having earlier signed Mario Gotze from Bundesliga rivals Borussia Dortmund.
Apart from Gotze, he will now fight for a spot in midfield with the experienced Bastian Schweinsteiger, talented playmaker Toni Kroos, and defensive walls Javi Martinez and Luiz Gustavo.
Though he clearly has a greater chance of winning silverware at Bayern, surely his desire for regular football won’t be met in the face of such stiff competition initially.
However, Guardiola claimed last week that Thiago would get ample playing time as he could be utilised in a number of different positions.
“Nobody wants to leave Barca, but they do want game time,” he said.
“Thiago wants to play. That’s what we can offer. We have a lot of games and need to rotate the squad a lot. Thiago can play as a number 6, 8, 10, 11 and even a number 7.”
It remains to be seen if Thiago is as effective as an attacking utility man and whether Guardiola’s rotation policy keeps the player happy.
One thing is certain though, United and Barcelona are the real losers from this deal, while Bayern becomes even more formidable… if that’s possible!
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