‘Barcelona don’t care about the people who made history for the club’
Dani Alves has slammed Barcelona just weeks after leaving the Catalan giants for a second time, claiming that the club don’t care about the people who have brought them success over the years.
The 39-year-old returned to the LaLiga outfit in December last year, with the Brazilian joining five years after his first eight-year spell at the Camp Nou came to an end.
However, after playing an important role in helping Xavi’s side recover from a poor start to the season to finish second in the table, the defender is once again a free agent after Barcelona opted not to renew his contract.
Speaking to The Guardian, Alves – who featured 17 times for the Catalan club in his second spell – criticised the club by insisting that there must be a change of mindset if they are to challenge for trophies again.
“I didn’t leave sad. I left happy to have returned to Barcelona. I dreamed for five years wanting to live this second moment,” he said. “The only thing I didn’t like was how my departure was handled.”
‘This club has sinned in recent years’ – Dani Alves
“Since I arrived,” Dani Alves continued, “I made it very clear that I wasn’t any more a 20-year-old guy and that I wanted things to be done head-on, without hiding things.
“But this club has sinned in recent years. Barcelona don’t care about the people who made history for the club.
“I would like Barcelona to do things differently. I’m not talking about myself because my situation was another scenario. I am eternally grateful to Xavi and the president [Joan Laporta] for bringing me back.
“I found a club full of young people with incredible ideas on the pitch. But it needs to improve the work outside the field. The mindset is totally opposite to what we built a few years ago. Everything that happens on the field is a reflection of what happens outside.
“I’m supporting for Barcelona to come back to the top, but it’s super-complicated. Football is more balanced, it’s a collective game. And that has been left out at the club.”
Alves made 408 appearances for Barcelona across his two spells in Spain, registering 22 goals and 105 assists – winning 23 trophies. He has racked up an astonishing trophy haul in his playing career.
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