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Barcelona legend Hristo Stoichkov advised his former club to sign Alphonso Davies before his transfer to Bayern Munich in the summer of 2018, according to Spanish outlet Sport.
The Bulgarian icon followed Davies in the MLS as an analyst on TV and called Barca in January 2018 to make a move for the youngster. Davies was 17 years old back then and played for the Vancouver Whitecaps.
Barcelona turned down the opportunity to sign the teenager as they believed that a Canadian player could not match the level of football being played in Europe. Five months later, Davies ended up at the Allianz Arena after Bayern agreed to pay a fee of over €11 million.
Ernesto Valverde was the manager of the Blaugranas during the 2017-18 season and Josep Maria Bartomeu was presiding as the club's president at the time. Jordi Alba has been Barcelona's undisputed first-choice left-back since joining from Valencia in 2013.
However, he has been ousted from the starting XI by manager Xavi Hernandez this season. He has started 18-year-old Alejandro Balde at left-back in each of his team's last four La Liga games this season.
Alba's only start in a league game this season came in a goalless opening day draw against Rayo Vallecano on August 14. The La Liga giants' acquisition of Marcos Alonso from Chelsea towards the end of the summer window sealed Alba's fate.
The 33-year-old is expected to be the club's third-choice pick in that position this season. Davies, meanwhile, is a regular for Bayern Munich and has registered two assists in eight appearances this season.
Bayern Munich down Robert Lewandowski's Barcelona in the Champions League
Barcelona signed, arguably, Bayern Munich's greatest-ever striker this summer when they brought Robert Lewandowski to Camp Nou for a fee of €50 million.
The Poland international had one year left on his contract at the Allianz Arena but made it clear that he wanted to leave Bayern for Barca. The two clubs came face-to-face for the first time since Lewandowski's controversial transfer when they faced each other in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday (September 13).
Xavi's side were comfortably beaten by a superior Bayern outfit in Munich via a 2-0 scoreline. Leroy Sane and Lucas Hernandez scored within 10 minutes of the start of the second half to seal the three points.
Lewandowski's return to Germany proved to be highly disappointing as he was outsmarted by French centre-back Dayot Upamecano at every turn. Bayern Munich are currently at the top of Group C with six points from two games.
Barca, like Inter Milan, have three points while Viktoria Plzen are yet to open their account in terms of points this season.
