Thiago Alcantara almost signed for Manchester United before he joined Bayern Munich, his father Mazinho has revealed, Metro reports.

United were strongly linked with a deal for Thiago earlier this summer but  United manager David Moyes denied he was ever interested in buying Thiago.

But according to the player’s father Mazinho, United actually came very close to pulling off his signature.

Thiago was very close to signing with Manchester United,’ he told Brazilian radio.

‘They watched him at the Under-21 European Champions, and after it was finished, they had talks. But they couldn’t find an agreement.

‘Thiago knew it would be very hard to play matches at Barcelona, and his goal is to play with Spain at the 2014 World Cup.’

Thiago has already enjoyed a strong start to his career at Bayern, leaving United wishing that perhaps they tried a little harder to pull off they deal.