Dani Alves: It's hard for me to go back to Camp Nou wearing white

Dani Alves is happy to come back to Camp Nou to face Pumas in the Joan Gamper Trophy. The Brazilian is looking forward to saying goodbye to the fans after he left the club last summer, not knowing if he would return or not.

The defender visited the club’s training ground on Friday with his new teammates and spoke to SPORT among other outlets.

Alves spoke about his exit from Barcelona. “I am not hurt, I am eternally grateful to Xavi and Laporta and the club for letting me live these six months,” said Alves. “I know that it was very hard to come back and it was thanks to them. It was a nice situation that was priceless. I knew the moment the club was going through, I came to help, but I also knew I had a six-month contract, not a five-year deal.

“The only thing I would have liked was that they told me earlier so I could say goodbye properly. The last game I could not do it as I did not know if I was staying or not. Luckily football has given me this chance to say goodbye to my people. Once you are a Cule, you are forever! Not in the best scripts could they have written that i would be back so soon but football is beautiful and takes care of people who respect it.

“It’s strange to be back in a shirt that’s not Barcelona’s and it will be a special game for me. The only thing I’m not happy about is returning to Camp Nou in a white shirt! That’s hard for me.”