Dani Alves has provided an update on his future at Barcelona amid suggestions that he has played his final match for the club.
The Brazilian right-back became the first signing of new Blaugrana boss Xavi Hernandez at the Camp Nou, arriving on a free transfer after his contract was cancelled at Sao Paulo.
Alves returned to the club after five-and-a-half years away earlier this season and has become an important member of the first-team squad, playing 17 matches in the second half of the campaign for the Blaugrana – scoring once.
Alves was one of quartet of January arrivals – alongside Ferran Torres, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Adama Traore – that helped transform Xavi’s Barcelona, but he was cruelly cut from the club’s European squad due to UEFA rules that club’s could only register three new players into their ranks for the competitions during the season.
The 39-year-old re-joined the Blaugrana on just a short-term contract through to the end of the current campaign but his future beyond this summer remains uncertain. The Brazilian was at fault for the opening goal in his side’s two-goal home defeat against Villarreal in Sunday’s final league clash, as he was caught out of position to allow visiting left-back Alfonso Pedraza to open the scoring.
The Brazilian’s energy levels and performances have ensured he is often preferred in the position to Sergino Dest – the only other specialist right-back in Xavi’s squad - in the position. However, it is inevitable that his age and decline in physicality will bring question marks over his future beyond this campaign.
Barca hold the option of extending the player’s contract at the Camp Nou by a further season and this is something that the player is particularly keen to accept. Alves explained after Sunday’s match: "I don't know if it was my last game at the club. I live in the present. The future is unknown and I only live in the present.
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"I will try to represent this badge as best I can. Everyone knows my wish. I can continue contributing things and helping this club. If it were up to me, the contract would have been done a long time ago. I'm going to keep fighting for the right to be in this squad."
Alves is keen to sign a new deal that will take him up to his 40 th birthday and which will also provide him with regular first-team football up to World Cup finals in Qatar this winter. Alves wants to participate in his fourth World Cup and add to his 122 caps for the Selecao, for whom he has won multiple Copa America tournaments alongside last year’s Olympics Gold medal. But he has never tasted success in the World Cup.
However, for now the Brazilian’s future at the Camp Nou remains unclear with the club yet to confirm his contract renewal – which he has reiterated he had been keen to resolve ahead of the end of the season.
