Dani Alves puts pen to paper on a new two-year deal, ending United’s hopes of luring the Brazilian to Old Trafford.
Dani Alves’ contract difficulties at Barcelona have been well documented in recent months and it appeared he would see out the end of it before moving on a free transfer this summer.
Manchester United were believed to be among those interested and just last week there were reports from the Daily Star of a deal for Alves being close to completion.
As confirmed on Barcelona’s official site however, an agreement has been reached and Alves has signed a two-year contract with an optional third year extension.
The flying full-back re-discovered his best form last season in a treble-winning Barca side, totalling 10 assists and forming a vital component in the Catalan side’s deadly attack.
Lionel Messi heaped praise on the Brazilian last week – as reported by the Daily Mail – describing Alves as the ‘best right-back in the world’. The notion therefore, that Barcelona would allow his contract to run down without any resistance seemed a strange one which proved ultimately untrue.
Alves’ future is now secured, tying him to the club until at least June 2017 and it means Louis van Gaal will need to re-enter the market to bolster that problem right-back position at United.
Antonio Valencia performed well at times last season but is not the long-term solution and with Rafael’s Injury concerns and van Gaal’s preference for playing Phil Jones centrally, United scouts will be working overtime to identify a new target.
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