Barcelona great Dani Alves has hit out at the club for their poor handling of his departure this summer.
Dani Alves returned to Barcelona this past winter, more than five years after leaving the Catalan club for Juventus in 2016. The Brazilian icon also played for Paris Saint-Germain for two seasons before returning to Brazil with Sao Paulo in 2019.
But the relationship between Alves and Sao Paulo turned sour after two years, and he was subsequently released from the club in September last year. Two months later, Barcelona came calling again, and the veteran right-back rejoined them for a second spell.
His six-month stay at Barcelona was not quite fruitful, although the Catalan club somehow managed to finish second in La Liga, behind arch-rivals Real Madrid. The Blaugrana are also in the midst of a financial crisis, which Alves hinted at during his interview with The Guardian.
The 39-year-old opened up on his exit from the club, stressing that he ‘didn’t like’ how Barcelona handled his departure. Alves also stated that as a fan, he would like the club to ‘do things differently’.
Dani Alves wasn't pleased with the way Barça handled his departure ? pic.twitter.com/6Cpq1i0uLq
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) July 11, 2022
“I didn’t leave sad,” Alves said of his second stint at Camp Nou. “I left happy to have returned to Barcelona. I dreamed for five years wanting to live this second moment. The only thing I didn’t like was how my departure was handled.”
“Since I arrived, I made it very clear that I wasn’t any more a 20-year-old guy and that I wanted things to be done head-on, without hiding things. But this club has sinned in recent years. Barcelona don’t care about the people who made history for the club.”
“As a culê, I would like Barcelona to do things differently. I’m not talking about myself because my situation was another scenario. I am eternally grateful to Xavi and the president for bringing me back. I found a club full of young people with incredible ideas on the pitch. But it needs to improve the work outside the field.”
“The mindset is totally opposite to what we built a few years ago. Everything that happens on the field is a reflection of what happens outside. I’m supporting for Barcelona to come back to the top, but it’s super-complicated. Football is more balanced, it’s a collective game. And that has been left out at the club.”
Alves made 17 appearances for Barcelona in the recently-concluded season, scoring once and assisting four goals. He is now a free agent, with the likes of RCD Mallorca and Real Valladolid getting linked with a Bosman move for the legendary full-back.
