DANI ALVES HAS ruled out a return to Barcelona from Juventus, claiming that too many mistakes were made by the “egos” in power at Camp Nou.
The Brazilian brought an eight-year spell with the La Liga giants to a close in the summer of 2016.
Barca have struggled to fill the void his departure created, with the club lacking in presence and panache at right-back.
Alves has, however, suggested that he is highly unlikely to head back to Catalonia, with the buccaneering defender now 33 years of age and bearing a grudge against some of those he left behind.
He told reporters ahead of a reunion with Barca at Camp Nou in a Champions League quarter-final clash on Wednesday: “I always give 100 per cent with every club I play for. It was wonderful here but to come back to Barcelona I would have to set a lot of things straight and the egos of certain people, which are giant, would not allow it.
Some people loved me in Barcelona and some didn’t. The Catalans are special people, my lifestyle doesn’t really fit in with what they like or what they think it ought to be.
“I don’t know what the reception will be tomorrow, but I am happy to be back at somewhere I considered my home, even as a rival.”
Alves has spoken out on his Barcelona exit in recent weeks, admitting that he no longer felt “comfortable” at the club and had grown “tired of being in the firing line”.
Pressed further on the subject and why he feels bitter towards his former club, he added: “I just wanted to express what I was feeling inside me.
I don’t like to keep bad energy trapped inside me, as that would make life bad. I am sorry if someone felt offended, but I simply wanted to get out this bitter-sweet sensation at my departure from Barcelona. I did feel that I was slightly pushed out.
“I used the media in Madrid to express that because I knew they would not manipulate what I said, whereas the media in Barcelona may well have manipulated it.”
The42 is on Instagram! Tap the button below on your phone to follow us!
