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One of the brightest young talents in Spain, Thiago Alcantara, could leave Barcelona for a much lower sum than previously thought.
The 22-year-old footballer shone in the recently ended European youth championship, scoring three goals in the final and helping the Spanish national team defeat Italy 4-2.
He has been attracting attention from teams such as Man Utd, Man City, and Bayern Munich, but Barcelona had deterred them from buying the promising youngster due to an unwillingness to sell and a huge 90 million euro buyout clause in the contract signed in 2011.
However, it seems that the Spanish champions made a "mistake" due to objective circumstances, as Alcantara did not play enough minutes last season. The contract left a clause that the player must play at least half an hour in 60% of the season's matches. In reality, the Spaniard played the required number of games, but the minutes were insufficient in almost half of them - in 15 out of 36 matches.
Therefore, according to the stipulated conditions, the buyout clause automatically decreased from 90 to a much more attractive 18 million euros. However, the clause is only valid until August 1, after which it will return to the specified level.
Although Alcantara has not expressed a desire to leave Barcelona, he is open to offers because he is not hiding his ambition to be a key player in the starting lineup. The decision on his future was promised to be made after the European championship.
