Barcelona announces return of Daniel Alves

Right-back Daniel Alves, 38, is back at Barcelona. The Spanish club announced the Brazilian’s return this Friday (12).

Considered the greatest of his position in the history of the Catalan club, the athlete from Bahia played for the team from 2008 to 2016 and won 23 titles.

Daniel Alves will now have the opportunity to be commanded by a former teammate, coach Xavi. The forward had been without a club since when he terminated his contract with São Paulo, in September this year.

In a statement, Barcelona says that Alves will start training next week and will only be able to act from January – after the transfer window opens.

The contract is valid until the end of the current season, in June 2022. The club will still give more details about the Brazilian’s official presentation at Camp Nou.

Owner of more than 40 titles in his career, Daniel helped São Paulo win the Campeonato Paulista this year and led the Brazilian team to winning the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics. His time at the tricolor club, which he supported as a child, however, did not have an unfortunate outcome.

The right-back arrived at the Morumbi club in August 2019, with a contract valid until the end of 2022. He played 95 matches and scored 10 goals. The player was criticized for losing games for the team when he accepted the invitation of the Brazilian team to compete in the Tokyo Olympics. Before, he was charged by fans for appearing in a samba circle using an injured arm – reason for which he left São Paulo – to play an instrument.

In Japan, Daniel Alves complained about how he was being treated by São Paulo, which admitted having a debt of more than R$ 10 million to the athlete.

Daniel Alves was eager to regain his footing in football. Captain in the 2019 Copa America conquest, he has the desire to defend the Brazilian team in the 2022 World Cup. After leaving São Paulo, he received some offers from clubs like Fluminense. Without a hit, he didn’t play and went off the radar of Tite, the national coach.

Revealed at Bahia, Daniel Alves left the country early for European football. Hired by Sevilla (ESP), consolidated in Spain and caught the attention of Barcelona (ESP), which signed him in 2008 for Pep Guardiola’s first season ahead of the Catalan team.

With the shirt of the Spanish team, Daniel Alves completed 391 official matches and hit the net 23 times. There, he was also commanded by Tito Vilanova, Tata Martino and Luis Enrique.

After Barça, the player played for a season at Juventus (ITA), enough to leave Turin with the achievements of the Italian Championship and the Italian Cup.

Afterwards, the player went to Paris Saint-Germain. For the club, he won a spot to play in the 2018 World Cup, but suffered an injury to his right knee and was cut.

The Brazilian was elected eight times for FIFA’s team of the year, five of them consecutively (2011 to 2015), in addition to 2009, 2017 and 2018.