Xavi Hernandez has heart to heart with Thiago Alcantara

The future of Barca’s Thiago Alcántara is still one of the great mysteries of the summer. Sports channel ESPN reported yesterday that Manchester United see a deal with Thiago pretty much sealed and they could even announce his signing on Friday at David Moyes’ first press conference as the new coach of the Old Trafford club.

However, back at the Nou Camp, nobody seems to know where the undecided midfielder, who is on vacation, will end up. Thiago’s been on holiday since the final of the European Under-21 Championships against Italy where the Barca star scored a hat trick in the win.

Just this past weekend Thiago tweeted “I love Barcelona” and many have interpreted this as a nod to the Catalan fans who are concerned about his hypothetical departure from the Catalan giants. Thiago’s disappointment for not having been rewarded for his desire to play more and have more presence in the big games has not gone unnoticed among his peers.

There have been several players who have spoken with Thiago to hear him voice his concerns for the future with one player insisting that he stay at the Catalan club: Xavi Hernandez.

Although Xavi Hernandez has Thiago Alcantara as his main rival for his place in the squad, he knows what it takes to succeed at the Camp Nou. So Xavi chatted with him days ago to advise him not to accept any of the attractive offers from Manchester United, Bayern and other big clubs. He told him not to give in to his buyout clause of just 18M euros. Failure to pay this amount by 1^st August will raise his premium to a massive to 90M euros

Xavi Hernandez also said that the time to exploit Thiago’s talent at Barca is just around the corner and reminded him that he didn’t see his future too clearly either in his early years in the first team.

Xavi came within a hair’s breadth of going to AC Milan but ended up staying at the club of his dreams, where he has been instrumental in the team in Barca’s history. He sees in Thiago a great successor and reminded him that the whole team wants him to stay because they believe in his style of play and have done for years.

While Thiago is cited for medical tests at the start of the preseason on 15^th July, the Catalan club does not have news about a possible move to United and denies any contact.

As far as Barca is concerned, Thiago is under contract until 2015 and it should be the player who makes the first move to break any ties he’s had with a club that he has been at since he was 14 years old.