Dani Alves offers return to Barcelona on free transfer
By Tom Gott
Dani Alves has offered his services back to former employers Barcelona, insisting he is ready to return if the club need him.
The 38-year-old right-back, who is a free agent after rescinding his contract with Sao Paulo in September, is a legend at Camp Nou after eight trophy-laden years between 2008 and 2016.
He has been keeping himself fit and healthy while he searches for a new club. Recent reports suggest that Alves has decided to wait until 2022 to find himself a new club, and he confessed to Sport that he would not be against a return to Barcelona.
"I always said that I left Barcelona because I saw that things were not the way I thought they should be," he admitted. "And I left saying that when Barça needed me and wanted me, I would be at their disposal regardless of where I was.
"The affection, love and respect that I have for this club is too much. If Barça thinks they need me, they just have to call me.
"I still think that I can contribute anywhere, but more at Barça because of the number of young players there now. Everywhere I've been, I have always thought that the perfect mix is between experience and youth. There will come a time when the youth will mature and the older ones will leave. It is a natural process, but mistake have been made and this process has accelerated.
"You have to think that is is a challenge for the president to put Barça back in the place where they deserve. It is an arduous process where you have to play fair with the people who follow Barça and love them. It is a stage of transition, of difficult, and that must be made very clear.
"Barça will be back. It may be in half a year, in three months, in a year, but they'll be back because they have always returned and now won't be the time that they don't succeed. Those of us who love the club are willing to help in some way so that the club regains that power, that philosophy of connection between all that everyone fell in love with."
Alves made a point of stressing that he is not solely focused on a return to Barcelona, but when asked about the kind of club he wants to join, he did everything but mention Barça's name.
"I always look for a club that obviously allows me to compete with the greats, fight for titles and make an impact wherever I am," he explained. "I would not consider any scenario other than this.
"I want to bring a winning and fighting mentality wherever I go. If the team already had it and lost it, then I will try to bring it back."