Barcelona president Joan Laporta has detailed the simple reason Dani Alves has been brought back to the club.
Alves has returned to Camp Nou on a short-term deal until the end of the season and he was officially presented to supporters today.
The experienced full-back has been out of work since September when he mutually agreed to terminate his contract with Sao Paolo.
But at 38 years of age, he returns to Barca, where he previously spent eight successful years, to work under former teammate Xavi Hernandez.
Alves can only satart playing from January, but his impact will be felt far beyond the pitch.
And that might have been behind Xavi‘s thinking when he told Laporta to sign Alves in recent weeks.
Laporta revealed during the presentation: “Xavi told us ‘I need Dani in the team’, so things have ended up as they should have.”
Alves joins Barca on a cheap deal until the end of the campaign, though he will be able to increase his earnings by reaching certain performance targets.
At this point, though, it’s much more about finishing his career with a fairy tale ending than it is about the money, something he has, no doubt, collected plenty of across a long and successful career.
