Alcantra, 22, has been on United's radar since a few years and have tried to pries him from Barcelona clutches before. However, it is believed that back then Thiago was prepared to fight his way into the Barca first team under the mentorship of idol Pep Guardiola. Lately though, the young Spaniard has grown disillusioned with the lack of opportunities in Catalunya under new manager Tito Vilanova.
Thiago, according to sources close to the player, has also ruled out moving to Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich despite the arrival of Guardiola as manager because, like Barcelona, Bayern have a packed midfield and first team opportunities will be difficult to come by.
That leaves Old Trafford as Thiago's likeliest destination and thanks to a loophole in Thiago's contract they could get him for as little as £15 million.
When Alcantra signed a contract extension with Barca two years ago, he had a clause inserted into his contract which stated that he must play for at least 30 minutes in 60 per cent of the matches which he failed to do.
The activation of this clause means that Thiago's buyout clause has dropped down from an astronomical £77 million to a very reasonable £15 million.
United have already submitted a bid of less than £15 million and will look to activate the midfielder's release clause if talks with Barcelona fail.
