Luis Enrique admits he was surprised Dani Alves chose to leave Barcelona but praised a ‘special player.’
Alves triggered a clause in his Barca contract which allowed his departure, signing for Serie A champions Juventus, and Lucho was asked about the right-back at his first Press conference of the summer.
“I was surprised by him leaving. We were all surprised. He’s a special player, positive, loving, cheerful, sometimes excessively so. We’ll miss him. He was exemplary and as professional as few are. Juve have a great player and I wish him well,” Mundo Deportivo reports Enrique saying.
The Coach was asked if Barca would sign a right-back to account for the loss of the Brazilian and indicated that wasn’t the plan.
“It seemed like he’d leave a year ago, so we signed Aleix Vidal and thought about retraining the position of Sergi Roberto. With them, we’re well covered at right-back,” Enrique countered.