Former Barcelona defender Dani Alves harshly criticized the Spanish giants after leaving the club this summer, raising doubts about his chances of receiving a World Cup call-up.
The 39-year-old was the first signing of the Pep Guardiola era and was a crucial member of the Guardiola dynasty that dominated domestic and European club football.
Alves returned to the Camp Nou for a second time in January after spending the previous five and a half years with his home side Sao Paulo.
Alves made history when he was also the first signing of the Xavi Hernandez era. The defender failed to obtain a contract extension after making 17 appearances for Barcelona in the second half of the previous season, making him a free agent in a World Cup year.
Alves helped the Spanish giants in improving their form following a challenging stretch. But Barcelona finished the season without a trophy, an uncommon occurrence in recent years.
Alves stressed that he has not left the club with grief and that he had mostly positive memories from his two stints there, but he was unable to hide his dissatisfaction with how the team handled his departure.
“I left happy to have returned,” Alves said. “I dreamed for five years wanting to re-live this second moment. The only thing I didn’t like was how my departure was handled. Since I arrived, I made it very clear that I wasn’t anymore a 20-year-old guy and that I wanted things to be done head-on, without hiding things.”
Dani Alves is not happy with the way he left Barcelona. pic.twitter.com/2gJDURySMs
— Frank Khalid (@FrankKhalidUK) July 11, 2022
Even though he’s unhappy and frustrated with the treatment he got from the club, he didn’t fail to appreciate Xavi Hernandez for bringing him back to the club again. However, the Brazilian stressed that he wants to see a change in the way business is conducted off the field. According to him, being a Barcelona fan makes him desire a change.
Other players who were forced out of Camp Nou before Dani Alves
Dani Alves is certainly not the only important player who left Barcelona in a disgraceful manner. The club has done it to most of their best players and they seem not to care.
Dani Alves’ fellow Brazilian Ronaldo is among the players who were forced out of the club during his time.
Ronaldo was a great player but had to leave the club after he revealed that the club directors lied to him during contract negotiation.
Sweden international Zlatan Ibrahimovic was also forced out when he fell out of favor with Pep Guardiola who was their manager then.
Legendary Lionel Messi also felt disappointed with the way the club managed his contract which gave him no other option than to leave for Paris Saint Germain in the summer of 2021.
Before Messi’s exit, FC Barcelona made Uruguayan striker, Luis Suarez cry as he was forced out of the club in the 2020 summer. Luckily for him, he won the Spanish La Liga title with Atletico Madrid the following season.
