Dani Alves chose to join Paris St Germain instead of Manchester City after having a chat with Neymar. The enigmatic character decided to part ways with Juventus after what was a successful season with Juventus winning the Scudetto and reaching the Champions League Final only to lose against his eternal rival Real Madrid.
The Brazilian full-back appeared to be on the verge of a reunion with former manager Pep Guardiola until he stunned most by joining PSG. City have since then gone out and signed Kyle Walker from Tottenham and Danilo from the European champions Real Madrid to fill in for the position of right back.
Neymar joined PSG from Barcelona for a staggering world record fee of €222miillion and Alves has shed new light on the talk he apparently he had with Neymar before snubbing Man City.
Alves said: “I talked to him about the possibility.
“He recommended me to come here. He suggested that I came to the club. I said I wanted to leave Juventus, and he was thinking of coming here.
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“Neymar coming changes PSG’s position for sure. It inevitable that there are expectations. His greatness brings all that.
“There is anticipation because of the football he plays and his will to show it to the world. You take a giant step when you have a player of this level to play against the other teams. This team will get a quality leap forward.”
Alves’ wife also had an impact on his decision to select the French capital over Manchester.
“I chose PSG for different reasons,” he added. “I consulted my family. To go to Juventus I didn’t consult anyone, and that was hard for my wife. She had already lived here, she likes the city.”
The choice made by the 34-year-old should not be surprising having seen the reasons behind it. His wife was already living in Paris so that must have made his decision far easier. Also, a chance for a reunion with fellow Brazilian Neymar in order to dominate Europe was too enticing a prospect to overlook.
City though have dealt with it professionally and got their backup choices sealed within the blink of an eye. In Walker and Danilo, Pep has found probably the necessary quality he needs. Both of them have featured in pre-season with Danilo featuring in an unusual left wing-back role. Nonetheless, the Englishman and the Brazilian have been equally impressive and if these performances are even the slightest indicators of things to come, City will after all not miss the services of Dani Alves.
