Xavi: Barcelona miss Alves they need to bring him back
Xavi Hernandez thinks Barcelona greatly miss Dani Alves and said he wouldn’t have to think twice before welcoming him back to the club.
After eight seasons at Barca, Alves left for Juventus on a free transfer last summer, following Xavi, who had departed for Qatar the year before, out the Camp Nou exit door.
Despite nearly two years passing since his last game for the Blaugrana, Xavi, who came through La Masia and made 767 first-team appearances, remains something of a spokesman for the Catalan club
“Obviously I would bring back Dani Alves,” Xavi said in an interview with Goal focusing on Barcelona’s Champions League quarterfinal tie with Juventus.
“He decided to leave, but for me he is the best right-back in the world at the moment. Barca miss him a lot.”
Alves gave Barca a glimpse of what they are missing on Tuesday, keeping Neymar on the fringes of the game as his new side comfortably beat his former employers 3-0 in Turin.
Barca coach Luis Enrique was keen to keep hold of Alves last summer, but the Brazilian took the decision into his own hands and has since explained his reasoning for seeking a new challenge.
“I didn’t feel as comfortable any more at Barca,” he said in an interview with FIFA.com earlier this week.
“Things changed at a club level and as time went on I always seemed to be the one in the firing line. ‘Dani’s the one who has to go,’ they’d say. I just got tired of it. I decided to head off in a new direction and find happiness somewhere else.”
