Turin, June 28 (IANS) Veteran Brazilian right-back Dani Alves signed a two-year contract with Italian football champions Juventus on a free transfer, after passing a medical test on Monday.
The 33-year-old came as a free agent after activating a clause in his contract with Barcelona, with whom he won 23 trophies, including three Champions League and six La Liga titles in an eight-year stint at the Catalan club. He still had a year remaining on his contract at Barcelona.
Italian media reported that the full-back will earn around $3.8 million per season, with performance-related bonuses on top.
"Juventus Football Club can today confirm that Dani Alves has agreed terms on a two-year contract with the club until June 30 2018 with an option for an additional year," Juventus said in a statement.
Alves will be the second signing for Juventus this season after Bosnian midfielder Miralem Pjanic, who joined the Turin club from Roma.
The unrelenting success and remarkable consistency of the second most decorated player in UEFA competition history has seen the Brazilian deservedly be considered among the greatest wing-backs of his generation.
Having played a key role in one of the most trophy-laden spells of any club over the course of the game's existence, including a history-making pair of domestic and European trebles at Barcelona, Alves' transfer to Juventus marks the arrival of a natural-born winner and a true master of his trade.
Explosively athletic, sharp in the tackle and possessing the sort of vision and weight of pass that normally characterise attacking midfielders, the 33-year old fits the mould of the modern full-back and continues the Selecao's tradition of producing exciting and dynamic wide players.
Starting out at local side Bahia in his native Brazil, a string of impressive performances and a subsequent switch to Spain and Sevilla ensured that the then 19-year-old would not have to wait long to showcase his talents on the world stage.
Peaking between 2006 and 2008 with back-to-back UEFA Cup winners' medals -- the first of nine European trophies -- a Copa Del Rey crown and a permanent place in the Brazilian national side, it was only a matter of time before Barcelona swooped to make him the third most expensive defender (£ 25.5 million in club football history in July 2008).
Becoming an integral part of an all-conquering Barcelona side, a staggering 23 major trophies, including three Champions League triumphs -- would follow for a player who ended his Blaugrana career with the second highest number of league appearances for a foreigner (239) and a sixth La Liga title in eight seasons in Catalonia.
The Brazilian showed no signs of dropping his peerless standards in the most recent campaign and makes a first step into Italian football on the back of yet another productive past nine months on the field.
Alves made a total of 29 league appearances for the Spanish champions and as the chart below demonstrates, boasted superior figures to his defensive colleagues in the division over the course of the 2015/16 season.
--IANS
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