Barca hold crisis talks with Thiago as United agree £5.5m-a-year deal for Spanish star

Barcelona will hold last-ditch talks with Thiago Alcantara to try and persuade the Spain midfielder to turn down a move to Manchester United.

The Premier League champions have agreed personal terms of £5.5million-a-year with Thiago and his father, former Brazil World Cup winner Mazinho, and are confident of wrapping up a £17m transfer.

Barca still hope to persuade the 22-year-old that he will be a ‘leader’ at the club for years to come but he remains unconvinced after struggling to secure a first-team place.

In demand: Thiago Alcantara, with the U21 Euros trophy, has agreed terms with Manchester United

Crisis talks: Barcelona will hold discussions with Thiago in an attempt to get him to stay at the Nou Camp

Thiago has gone on holiday leaving his father and representatives to hold talks with the Spanish champions, and they are expected to tell Barcelona that he wants to quit the Nou Camp for Old Trafford.

United have even gone to the effort of gathering character references on the player and are aware that both Manchester City and Bayern Munich could make a counter offer.

They are understood to have no interest in Napoli striker Edinson Cavani but are continuing to monitor Cristiano Ronaldo’s contract standoff with Real Madrid.

The former United star has been offered £12m-a-year net to stay at the Bernabeu but wants £5m more and is unhappy over a recent comment by Real president Florentino Perez that ‘everything has a limit’.