10 Jul 2013 12:14:37
Barcalona spokesman Tony Freixa has confirmed Thiago will begin pre season training with the Catalans,

"We have the players we have and Thiago is one of them, "

"Pre-season with us begins as scheduled. "

I foresee another Hazard, Ozil, David Silva fiasco. Why let him go on pre season with Barca? It's not like we don't have £15 mil to spend. Especially when it looks like we are going to spend even more than that on a center back we don't even need! (Garay). Come on Moyes, sign this kid up!

HinkseyRed

1.) 10 Jul 2013
Yes because that's how it works. we just send them 15 mill in an envelope and he signs on the dotted line. Its not a case of going into a shop and buying an item for said amount. There are so many other financial aspects to sort out and consider like VAT for example. Whoever is handling the negotiations is out to ensure any deal represents the best for both sides and that can take time. Be patient. Thiago training with the first team has no bearing on any potential deal. If he doesn't want to sign/move I highly doubt the negotiations would have dragged on for so long but at the end of the day if the deal is not what's best for Manchester United then they will walk away.

Stuey

2.) 10 Jul 2013
James Milner was still training/ playing with Aston villa the day before he signed for city. Whilst there still under contract they can still play for the team.

Just because he has gone on tour it doesn't mean anything.

I however feel that if thiago doesn't sign this week, then he won't sign for us at all!

3.) 10 Jul 2013
Like the Eds have said, a buy out clause is not simply pay and you get him. There are taxes etc so sort out on the clause and Barca can make things as difficult as they like for us to get him. Worst case scenario they could force Thiago to pay the buyout clause himself (which is what should legally happen) in which case he would have to pay income tax as well as VAT. I don't know how much income tax would be on £15m given to him by us but i'm guessing between 40-50%, potentially adding on over £7.5m to the total costs. What we are likely trying to do is come to a compromise where the club directly pay the buyout clause with a few million extra to appease Barca and get the process moving quickly so they can find a replacement and we get the player earlier. However, if Barca are only going to promote Sergi Roberto and not buy a replacement then they don't care how long it takes and could be as awkward as they want. Personally, I would pay over 20m for Thiago anyway but this is united and the Glazers, we are obviously determined to squeeze every penny of savings out even if it ends up costing us the deal.

Dan

4.) 10 Jul 2013
Correct me if I am wrong. but he isn't reporting back until the 15th. and it's the 9th today?

SB

5.) 10 Jul 2013
What is worrying me is that David Moyes has said, we are "trying" to do some business. Seems like Fergies old saying "we tried but. " when talking about Villa. Seems we are seen to be going for players, but we never seem to go ALL OUT to get them. Alexis Sanchez once said the reason he chose Barca was because of a personal call from Guardiola. Its that extra mile we don't seem to do. hence all of the players mentioned in the above post have slipped through the net.

6.) 10 Jul 2013
Maybe it's because he's not coming. andog

7.) 10 Jul 2013
I get the feeling the problem is not with Utd but the player. He might just be waiting to see who else decides to pay the release money.

8.) 10 Jul 2013
Sambo, read Ferguson's autobiography. He do goes to the players house if necessary.
The thing is: Manchester is a "horrible" city if you compare to other big cities like Barcelona, Madrid. and even Rome and London.
We actually get the players that really want to play for us. other than that. it's almost a "leap of faith" every time.

9.) 10 Jul 2013
Im not too worried about the comments coming from the barca hierahcy. They are probably self indulgent, like most aristocrats, and are thinking about how big their club is, and how great they are. I can see them trying to make the signing as difficult as possible. We've seen the mentality of barca's status quo evidenced before in their transfer activity, and it seems to be mostly about trying to upstage real madrid.
- Ibrahimovic in response to a real madrid spending spree - unecessary transfers like sanchez/fabregas/henry, all of whom played out of position. They could have simply taken pride in their youth, the lack of which, is ironically the reason thiago is now leaving. If manchester united want thiago at the end of the day, pay the taxes and the buyout fee. The player will no longer be a "bargin", but its still clearly a good investment.

- And that really is the greater concern. We might just be waiting for the dust to settle after unveiling a new manager, but, there is a worry that the glazers are increasingly gluing manchester united to an arsenal-esque transfer model.

United have not slowed down over the last 5 years mostly because of an incredible manager at this peak, and the unique longevity of key members of great generations, from the 90's and 2000's.

Our manager has now retired, and replacing iconic players in the modern game is not easy due to the inflation that oligarks are creating. (Even the academy is not a totally reliable solution. We are loosing players like morrision and pogba to the greed of market oppertunities. )

It really is important, that if high quality players are available at relatively good value, - they should be made priority. Haggling over small variances, is not only wasteful, its dangerous to the long term future of united. We can only hope the glazers can make these connections and understand that, even commercially, getting players like thiago signed is crucial.

redwolf

10.) 10 Jul 2013
We are pi ing around as usual. Thiago will not be signed by us.
nomidfield

11.) 10 Jul 2013
All these rumours. We are going to buy him no we are going to buy the other one. Medical booked for weekend. Well we go ontour and who has come. No one. Did you not read what our new ceo said "We do not need any major signings maybe a little tinkering here and there". Another squeeze by our beloved owners. Did Gill and Fergie know something. Who is the best manager to get who has managed on a virtuall zero budget. Yes its starting to make sense isn't it

I washed David Peggs car