Manchester United Stunned In Race For £15m Spanish Midfielder – Report

Manchester United look to have lost out in the race to sign Barcelona midfielder Thiago Alcantara with Bayern Munich making a shock swoop for the young midfielder, according to reports in Spain.

Thiago was believed to be close to signing a deal with United, though David Moyes was coy when speaking about the possibility of new players moving to Old Trafford yesterday.

And now Spanish radio station Cadena COPE have announced that Thiago will sign for the Bavarian giants and that he is due to officially be unveiled as a Bayern Munich player on Thursday.

Madrid publication Marca reports that while Bayern boast a difficult squad to break into for the 22 year old - a lack of game time is believed to be behind his desire to leave Barcelona - Javi Martinez will be moved into the centre back position to accommodate him.

Pep Guardiola handed Thiago his debut for Barcelona and currently Bayern are the team that every player would love to join. The German side won the treble in their last season, have plucked the best player from their biggest German rivals Borussia Dortmund in Mario Gotze and have one of the world's most renowned coaches taking over next season.

While United won the English Premier League last season the side's European performances in recent years have gone downhill. The changeover in manager to David Moyes, who has a good reputation in England but is yet to win any silverware in his managerial career, has left next season looking uncertain for the English giants.

Thiago has an exit clause in his contract worth around £15m which plummeted from £77m because the Catalan club didn't give him enough game time over the last season.

The error is one that Barcelona will be kicking themselves over and the side have continually insisted that they hope to keep hold of Thiago as he continues to develop.

But the Spain international, who starred in the Under 21 Euro tournament in June, has to compete with the likes of Cesc Fabregas, Xavi and Andres Iniesta for game time and as a result has had his head turned by the possibility of a move.

Guardiola recently gave an insight into Thiago's reasons for wanting to leave the club by telling reporters: "People have to know that Barca players are not leaving for money or desire. There are two possibilities: they dump you or you feel like you should be playing and Barcelona do not."

And if the reports are true, it looks like United have lost out on one of their top summer targets as Moyes attempts to make his own mark on the squad in this transfer window.