Thiago - Thiago Alcántara do Nascimiento - Biography

Born in Bari, Italy, Thiago joined Barça as a 14 year-old in 2005 and since then hasn't stopped growing as a player as he worked his way through the various youth teams.

Thiago has had a wide range of experience despite being so young. His father - Mazinho- was a professional footballer himself and so he lived in Brazil, Italy and Spain itself. When the family decided to move back to Galicia to live, Thiago began playing for Ureca de Vigo, where he soon caught the eye of a number of clubs, with Barça getting in first and signing him in 2005.

After a few seasons progressing through the Cadet and Youth teams, Thiago was promoted to the B team in the 2008-09 season, when he played 25 games and 18 more the year after.

He made his official first team debut in the game against Mallorca on May 17th 2009, coming on after 74 minutes for Eidur Gudjohnsen. He scored his first goal the following season – on February 20th against Racing Santander at the Camp Nou in the team's 4-0 win. His only other game for the first team that year was in the Cup. But despite officially remaining on the reserve team’s books, he continued to develop as a player and started playing a more and more prominent role in first team affairs.

In the 2010-11 season, Thiago began to play a more important role in the first team –featuring in 17 games, 12 in the league (six as a starter) where he scored twice, in Almeria and San Sebastian, three in the Spanish Cup, where he scored at the Camp Nou against Ceuta and he also made one appearance in each of the Champions League and Spanish Super Cup. He also continued to play for Luis Enrique's B team, making 11 appearances as the team finished third in the second division.

For the 2011-12 season, Thiago was made a full first team squad member under Josep Guardiola and in late June 2011 signed an extension to his contract that means he will remain at the club until at least 2015.

He played no role in the conquest of the European Supercup, but did contribute to the successes in the Spanish Supercup, Clubs World Cup and Copa del Rey. In his first year of permanent top flight football he consolidated his place in the midfield, appearing in 45 games and scoring four goals.

Having played at most youth levels for the national team, Thiago was part of the U21 European Championship winning side in 2011, scoring one of the goals in the final against Switzerland. Vicente Del Bosque has also named the player in full international squads, and he made his debut in a friendly against Italy, while he appeared in his first official match on September 6, 2011 against Liechtenstein.