"When I left the club [Barcelona], I just wanted to show my value to get back. But, unfortunately, the same people, who were against me when I was at the club, stayed there," Dani Alves has told the Guardian.
"I showed that I was able to play for Barcelona for another 10 years. I tried to go back to Barcelona. I wanted to go back to Barcelona. I played to go back to Barcelona, but they didn't want me anymore," the Brazilian added.
After shining for his national team at the 2019 Copa America, Dani Alves reportedly offered himself to Barcelona but Josep Maria Bartomeu was said to reject the deal.
The 37-year-old currently plays for Brazilian side Sao Paulo. Apart from being a wing-back, the veteran also plays in the central and even attacking midfield.
Dani Alves spent 8 years at Barcelona, winning 23 trophies with Blaugrana between 2008 and 2016.
RELATED NEWS
Dani Alves to Messi: 'Once he told me to stay in Barcelona, now I have reminded him of that conversation'
“I have said to Messi several times: he was born to be a Barcelona player and Barcelona were born to be his club,” Dani Alves said in an interview with The Guardian.
“He has given me advice before so I can do the same to him. Once he told me to stay in Barcelona because there wasn’t any place that was better. ‘Where will you be happier?’ he asked me. So I stayed."
“Now I have reminded him of that conversation and that a good friend [him] advised me that Barcelona is the best place ever.
"I haven’t had an answer from him yet but when you leave Barcelona you realise how good it is. All the players and I mean everyone, who has left Barcelona have been sorry. All of them regret leaving, irrespective of the reason."
Lionel Messi is in the twilight of his contract at Barcelona given it expires this summer.
However, Barcelona have been working hard to get him to sign a contract extension, albeit with a pay cut.
Messi himself is reportedly interested in staying although he has put off any contract talks with the club until the current league campaign is over.
'Football was, is, and will always be a sport that transforms lives': Dani Alves speaks out against Super League
"Football was, is, and will always be a sport that transforms lives. We won't allow the top executives to take away the possibilities of the small guys dreaming of becoming big," former Barcelona player Dani Alves has tweeted out amid the European Super League controversy.
Other than Luis Figo, Alves is the first Barcelona-related person to react to the news about 12 top European establishing a breakaway competition.
Meanwhile, UEFA and FIFA have retaliated hard, threatening to remove the involved clubs from the remaining competitions and ban the players from taking part in international tournaments like the Euros and the World Cup.
Latest news
