Dani Alves wants to give FC Barcelona back some of its former glory – and very specifically. Will other club legends return at some point?
A player who kisses the club crest on his jersey at his presentation? For many others, this gesture would have caused many eyebrows to shoot up, but Dani Alves you take the emotion: “I’ve been to many places “, says the 38-year-old Brazilian. “But none is like Barça.”
After more than five years, the right-wing “defender “ has returned to FC Barcelona, and even though he is not eligible to play until January and is only contractually bound until the summer, it was important for him to emphasise during his introduction on Wednesday at the Camp Nou that he was not re-signed out of pure nostalgia.
“Age is just a number – I showed that at the Olympics “
He is not back because he once “made history” at Barcelona or had such a good relationship with his ex-teammate Xavi, the new Barça coach. And certainly not to make a nice life for himself in Catalonia. “I came to fight and play.”
So Dani Alves wants to achieve his noble goal of “transforming “ Barça quite concretely on the pitch. Whether he will be able to do so after months of absence from competitive play and at the proud age of 38? “At Barça you have to be more than just good,” he knows, but puts himself in that category: “Age is just a number. I showed that at the Olympics.” In Tokyo, Brazil had won gold with Dani Alves as captain.
