This has not been a good week for FC Barcelona. After Tuesday’s 4-0 whomping at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, the club barely scraped a win over relegation candidates Leganes on Sunday in La Liga. Just when you thought Monday would bring some peace and quiet for the Catalans, former Barca and current Juventus right back Dani Alves threw some gasoline on his old club’s trashcan fire. Speaking to Spanish newspaper ABC (and reported by Marca), the Brazilian star called Barcelona’s board “very false and ungrateful” over the way that they handled his departure from the club last summer.
“During my last three seasons I always heard that ‘Alves was leaving’, but the managers never said anything to me. […] They did not respect me,” said Alves, who left on a free transfer to the Italian giants in June after signing an extension with Barcelona in 2015. “I was only offered to renew when the FIFA transfer ban came in. That was when I went and signed a deal with a termination clause.” To drive the nail home, Alves then said that “those who run Barcelona today have no idea how to treat their players.”
Alves’s remarks come at the same time that rumblings emerged about Barcelona megastar Lionel Messi wanting some top-to-bottom changes in the squad before he’ll resign with the only team he’s played for. Spanish soccer source Don Balón reported that Messi wants the board to sell off Jérémy Mathieu, Lucas Digne, and André Gomes before he’ll put pen to paper on an extension. Given what Alves had to say about the board, it would not help their case if they gave up on two players (Digne and Gomes) that they just signed this summer. Whether the rumors are true or not, and whether Alves is right about his comments or not, one thing is clear: there are dark days ahead for Barcelona.