Thiago’s friends are pushing him in the right direction towards Manchester United

Thiago Alcantara sent his congratulations to fellow U21 Spanish international Marc Muniesa after he joined Stoke City from Barcelona yesterday.

Muniesa played alongside Thiago in Spain’s victorious U21 European Championships and the 23-year-old Barcelona midfielder wished him good luck on Twitter.

Le deseo toda la suerte del mundo a un GRANDISIMO JUGADOR @muniesa24 en su nuevo equipo. Disfrutalo Debu!

— Thiago Alcantara (@Thiago6) July 2, 2013

“I wish you all the luck in the world to a great player @muniesa24 on your new journey. Enjoy your debut!”

The pair are close friends both at club and country level having spent years playing alongside each other in the lower levels of Barcelona.

After their successful U21 European Championship  victory, they kicked back and relaxed together on holiday.

http://twitter.com/barcastuff/statuses/347296532522991617

It means that Thiago has now seen his brother loaned out to Celta Vigo as well as Muniesa leave Barcelona with close friend Giovanni dos Santos also looking likely to join Villareal.

And in all likeliness, Thiago would have discussed his future with his closest companions so if they have any influence in the matter, they may well encourage him to look away from Barcelona to secure his spot in the Spain squad for Brazil 2014 given the choices they have made.

The latest update on the situation is reportedly that Thiago is chasing a similar release clause in a contract with United but ESPN claim that negotiations are nearing a conclusion and he could be unveiled as early as Friday when David Moyes has his first press conference as United manager.