Dani Alves Reveals He Had the Opportunity to Re-Join Both Barcelona & Juventus in the Summer

Dani Alves has revealed that he had the chance to join both Barcelona and Juventus during the summer transfer window, but wanted more contractual 'stability' and longevity.

A homecoming would've been on the cards in both Turin and Catalonia, but Alves eventually chose to return to Brazil with Sao Paulo and, speaking to the Player's Tribune, he revealed why he did so.

“I had the opportunity to return to Juventus. I also had the opportunity to return to Barca, because I wanted that," he said. "I didn't rush the decision. I thought: ‘What will this club give me? How will this place make me a better person? How will this place make me a better professional?’

"And I started to link: the structure it has, the possibility it has, the history the club has, the stability it can give me. I was putting it all together. The only link that started to make this was [Sao Paulo]. And so I made the decision.

"Only Sao Paulo, the team of my dreams, believed in me and gave me stability until 2022. Most of the clubs did not offer me that, because they did not believe in me. Because they think I have an expiration date."

The three-year deal was the most important thing for the full back, especially in regards to his prospects of playing for the Selecao at the 2022 World Cup, as he explained: "What I wanted, the key point for me, was to have the stability to fight for the 2022 World Cup.

"That was the starting point for my next challenge. And I've said it since I started my career: I'm free. I decide when I start. I decide when I finish."

Of those top European club's attitudes, Alves added: “They think I have an expiry date. I am feeling like a young boy once again. I am back in time and I am starting my career now.”