United, Thiago Agree £5.5m-a-Year Deal

The Daily Mail are suggesting that Spain and Barcelona midfielder
Thiago Alcantara has agreed terms with the English champions ahead of
his potential move to Old Trafford.
United and Alcantara have allegedly agreed to a deal that will see the
Spaniard receiving £5.5 million a year, with the promise of regular
first-team football.
The news will no doubt act as a catalyst for Barcelona, who will enter
into last-ditch crisis talks with the player later this week.
Thiago has struggled to find a place in the Barca first team, and with
the arrival of Brazilian wunderkind Neymar, things are probably only
going to be harder for the man who led his nation's under-21 side to
European Championship glory.
Eventually the sum total for the transfer itself is likely to be in
the region of £17 million. United will have to act fast, however, as
they might suddenly be finding themselves facing rivals for the
signature of Brazilian World Cup winner Mazinho's son.
Manchester City and Bayern Munich have both shown a keen interest in
the 22-year-old. It is no secret that these teams have cash to burn
and as such would definitely have the upper-hand over the Red Devils
if things escalated into a bidding war.
United need to get this transfer wrapped up as soon as possible, or
else they risk facing another Eden Hazard incident, where a player
that was seemingly on his way to the club was poached at the last
minute by United's bitter rivals Chelsea.
The article goes on to suggest that news of Edinson Cavani's potential
arrival at United may be the hearsay that most United fans had hoped
it would be.
Despite finally breaking his terrible streak at major tournaments last
night, scoring for Uruguay in their 2-1 defeat to Brazil, Cavani has
not done a great job of putting himself in the shop window this
summer.
He is a talented striker but just not the player United are looking
for right now.
The report does suggest, however, that the Red Devils are keeping a
close eye on the current Cristiano Ronaldo situation.
One has to wonder how United could possibly afford a player like
Ronaldo these days, but then this is football. Stranger things have
happened.
Right now, though, they need to turn their focus solely towards the
completion of the Thiago move and ensure that fans of England's most
successful club aren't left feeling robbed, like they were last
summer.