Dani Alves says goodbye to Juventus fans ahead of Manchester City move

City will continue to pursue Tottenham's Kyle Walker but have turned to Alves who has chosen to leave the Serie A champions after just a single season in Italy

Wednesday 28 June 2017 11:49 BST
Comments
Dani Alves is set to swap Juventus for Manchester City
Dani Alves is set to swap Juventus for Manchester City (@danialves23 / Instagram)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Dani Alves has said goodbye to Juventus fans ahead of his move to Manchester City.

Pep Guardiola is keen to be reunited with the Brazilian whom he worked with at Barcelona with a move for Tottenham’s Kyle Walker stalling with Spurs holding out for close to £50m.

City will continue to pursue Walker but have turned to Alves who has chosen to leave the Serie A champions after just a single season in Italy.

But despite the riches on offer in the Premier League the 34-year-old insisted his next step is not motivated by money.

"I don't play football for money, I play football because I love the profession and those who are part of it,” he wrote in an Instagram post. “I leave it up to you to judge what I have done and worked for. I LOVE FOOTBALL and money is never going to keep me somewhere."

In a campaign interrupted by a broken leg sustained in November, Alves helped Juve win the domestic league and cup double and finish runners-up to Real Madrid in the Champions League.

But the club's general manager Giuseppe Marotta confirmed earlier this month that the right back had requested to leave.

There has been no official announcement from Juve that they have parted ways with Alves, who remains listed as a player on their website.

But the Brazilian took to social media to announce "today our professional relationship ends" to the Bianconeri fans on Tuesday evening.

Alongside an image of him waving to the fans, he added: "I would like to thank all the JUVENTUS SUPPORTERS for the year I've had, to my team-mates who welcomed me like the professionals they are, for a club that wins and reaches finals.

"I think that my respect for this club and its supporters was my dedication, my passion and all my effort to make the club greater every single day.

"I apologise to the Juventus fans if sometimes they thought I had done something to offend them. I never had that intention, I just live very spontaneously and few people understand it. Even though it appears that I am not perfect, my heart is pure.

"Today our professional relationship ends and I will carry with me all of those who with love and true heart make Juve a great club.

"As everyone knows, I always say what I think and feel, so I feel that I should say thank you to Mr MAROTA (sic) for the opportunity he gave me, he's a great professional and someone who loves his job like few others."

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in