Javier Faus: Thiago Alcantara sale "isn't good" for Barcelona

Barcelona financial director Javier Faus has admitted that the decision to sell Thiago Alcantara was disappointing despite the fee the club received.

The Spanish Under-21 midfielder left for Bayern Munich last week after Pep Guardiola revealed his interest in signing his former player.

The European champions paid around €20m (£17.3m) which could rise to about €25m (£21.6m) with add-ons, and Faus concedes that selling a player of Thiago's quality was difficult to take.

"From a sporting point of view Thiago's sale isn't good, because he has a great future," Faus told reporters.

"[However] from an economic point of view it's not bad. We got €25m for a player, which is more than normal, it's not bad, especially given that his buyout clause was €18m."

Thiago was part of the Spain Under-21 side that won the European Championships this summer.