The Dani Alves to Manchester United transfer narrative has moved quite quickly. The 31-year-old Brazilian full-back has expressed his desire to leave Barcelona and play in the Premier League. The Fichajes.net website says that Alves would prefer a move to United and that they are still favorites to get a deal done.
Agent Francois Gallardo said back on October 19th that United stormed in and agreed to sign him with a contract already being thrashed out.
‘The player will leave Barcelona,’ said Gallardo.
‘He has signed a preliminary agreement with Manchester United.’
The Daily Star claimed a couple weeks ago: “Dani Alves wants £250,000 a week to play in the Premier League next season but no clubs are willing to pay those wages.”
The Daily Express said a day before the Star story: “Barca’s Dani Alves has agreed to join Manchester United in the summer when his current contract expires.”
Some gossip pages are claiming that he will join the team at the end of the season in the summer on a free transfer; not in January. If so, it would reinforce that back line. Which is obviously United’s biggest issue by far.
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and very often writes The Sports Bank.net ,which is partners with Fox Sports. Read his features stories in the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. Listen to him on 1620 The Zone. Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks). His work has been featured in hundreds of media outlets including The Washington Post and ESPN 2