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What’s the story?
Former Barcelona star Dani Alves has revealed how he was close to joining Real Madrid from Sevilla, stating that he is grateful that he chose Barcelona over Real Madrid.
In case you didn’t know..
Dani Alves became the most successful player in the world when he won the 42nd trophy of his career when Paris Saint-Germain secured the Ligue 1 trophy this season. The Brazilian right-back spent six years with Sevilla, before joining the Catalan giants in 2008.
Alves helped Barcelona secure a historic treble in his first season at Nou Camp, among other notable trophies over the years. He remains one of the few among the likes of Lionel Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets and Pedro, who has been part of two historic teams which won the treble at Barcelona.
In his eight year tenure with the club, the 35-year-old won over 20 trophies before eventually moving to Juventus on a free transfer in 2016. Alves moved to PSG in 2017, signing a two year contract with the club.
The heart of the matter
The former Blaugrana star revealed that he was grateful that he chose Barcelona over Real Madrid.
In an interview, Alves said:
"I will be honest, I was close, 95 percent, to joining Real Madrid. However, [then-Sevilla president] Del Nido was a very tough guy. Chelsea also entered negotiations. I told them that another team was open to paying more money than them."
"Then I had to make a decision and I stayed with Sevilla. I was very close to signing for Real Madrid but fate interrupted the path. I said that my story would be made with Barcelona, like I had dreamed as a kid. And you have to make those dreams come true, instead of nightmares.'
"I am grateful to be able to have avoided moving to Real Madrid and, obviously, joining Barcelona. Real [Madrid] were already a winning team and I was not going to go there to maintain the status quo. For me, it was more exciting to build what we did at Barcelona."
What's next?
Dani Alves is likely to stay at PSG and help the Ligue 1 giants in their quest for European glory in the upcoming season.
