Manchester United Transfer News: Red Devils Should Continue Pursuit of Thiago

Manchester United could be doing much worse than purchasing Thiago Alcantara this summer.

ESPN FC reported the Barcelona star will be considering his future this summer:

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Thiago will not make a decision on his future until after the Under-21 European Championships in June, but claims he is happy in Spain and has been unaffected by the United rumours.

"I just live my life and I am very happy," the Spain international told reporters. "I enjoy it in Barcelona because I have lived through some great times but we will see what happens after the Euros. Any player is used to living with rumours about him and they just cannot affect you."

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Manchester United are good enough to repeat as Premier League champions, but they need to upgrade the midfield if they want to have a real chance of winning the Champions league again. Signing Thiago would be a great step in making the kinds of improvements necessary.

Cesc Fabregas is considered by some to be the ideal midfield purchase for United this summer. He's a playmaker and goalscorer, with his experience in the Premier League proving invaluable as well.

The Daily Mirror's John Cross reported Fabregas will speak to Tito Vilanova about his possible place in Barcelona next year. Cross also wrote that Fabregas is wary of a move to England outside of Arsenal as he would want to avoid the vitriol Robin van Persie faced after moving to Manchester United.

As a result, Thiago seems like a much more likely option. That's great news for United.

No matter what, the midfielder will be a massive bargain. Marca's Luis F. Rojo reported Thiago's release clause will be just €18 million:

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Manchester United is looking to contract Thiago Alcantara for next season. It will not even have to enter into negotiations with Barcelona if it stumps up a figure of €18 million, a proposal under serious consideration.

That is the total for the player's current buy-out clause. Thiago renewed his contract two seasons ago when his release fee was set at €90 million. This amount was reduced, however, to €18 million if he did not play a fixed number of games. And that is exactly what has happened.

The player's salary should also not present a problem for his departure. The midfielder currently earns €1.8 million a season, a sum which could easily be topped by a number of European clubs.

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That lets United spend much less than it would have to in order to get Fabregas, yet the club would still be getting a talented young midfielder.

There seems to be little doubt that Thiago will become one of the best creative midfielders in the world. He'd be a huge boost to a United squad that lacked a playmaker in the center of midfield last season. The club has passed on chances to sign Luka Modric and Wesley Sneijder, and that's left a hole in the attack.

It's a hole Thiago would be more than apt to fill.

He's tremendously skilled on the ball. As a midfielder coming out of Barcelona's youth system, you'd expect Thiago to be a good dribbler and even better passer. You'd be right in both regards.

Thiago can make almost any pass you ask of him and won't have any problems dealing with the defensive pressure he'll see in the Premier League. As a result of Barca's tiki-taka style, Thiago has had plenty of experience making quick decisions and figuring out what he'll do with the ball before he even receives it.

At only 22 years old, Thiago is not even close to his prime. To think how good he is now and where he could be in a few years is scary. If United plays it right, they could get their creative midfielder for the next decade in Thiago.

If you want to look at this from a financial perspective, there's plenty of reasons to buy Thiago this summer. He'll command a much lower transfer fee and less weekly wages than Fabregas. Money isn't a huge worry for United, but that doesn't mean they should ignore a great deal when they see one.

In the event that the Red Devils would want to sell Thiago, they would likely have no trouble getting at least twice what they paid for him. Without that release clause, Barca would easily be able to get £20-25 million for Thiago. That price is only going to increase as the midfielder develops.

David Moyes has a large task ahead of him in trying to fill the boots left by Sir Alex Ferguson. He'd be making his job a little easier by buying Thiago.