Dani Alves is the perfect signing for Manchester City

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is linked to having a reunion with his old Barcelona right back Dani Alves. Even at 34, Alves is too good a player to resist.

If you’ve had the misfortune of falling down the rabbit hole of football transfer speculation on a public forum, I commiserate with your irreparable loss of time and brain cells. Certainly engaging in debate on such topics was likely never been for the faint of heart, but I like to believe the decline into Silly season started, or was at least expedited, by the game Football Manager.

You get to take the reins at a club and splash the cash on any player of your choosing. Lionel Messi to Gillingham? “Sure,” says the dumbfounded Barcelona president, “when that £50,000 offer came in the fax machine, I knew they meant business.” Hyperbole, but the point remains.

Nonetheless, occasionally life imitates art and we find it all a bit uncomfortable, just a touch too close to home. Arsenal breaking with their long-held tradition of transfer season nonchalance to bid over £100m on Kylian Mbappe?

Crazy doesn’t quite do it justice. But then, sometimes it happens and it just seems to fit. We talked before about Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola seeking a potential reunion with his old right back from Barcelona, Dani Alves. Low and behold, if media reports are anything to go by, it could be happening and very soon indeed.

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Alves may not carry the same price tag as Mbappe, rumours are that it could be as low as £5 million, but he’s a legend in his own right and generally considered the best right back in the world, even at the ripe old age of 34. So, you’d expect, at least some measure of jubilance from a City support base who would have one less reason to install Football Manager and pretend it’s reality? Well, not quite.

It seems, from my adventures down the rabbit hole, that opinion is somewhat divided on Alves at the Etihad. Some say he’s too old at 34, others are concerned that his signing will mean, for whatever reason, City won’t bring in another, presumably young, right back. Whatever the reason, there seems to be fears, unrelated to the way Alves conducts himself on the park, about the potential for the signing. Time to put those fears to bed.

Alves may be 34, but he’s arguably playing better than he ever was. His 5 goals and 6 assists in 26 starts for Juventus last season was impressive, but even more so when you consider he bagged 2 of each in the Champions League. He made, on average, 2.1 key passes per game throughout the campaign, more than any other full-back in Europe and indeed, any defender in the Premier League. That’s not all.

Alves isn’t all attack and no smarts, his defensive performances during the season were exceptional and one need look no further than how he shut down the one and only Neymar, blanking his old club Barcelona over two legs. He won 100% of the tackles and interceptions he attempted against his fellow Brazilian and was exceptional. He went even further against Monaco in the semi-finals, silencing the aforementioned £100 million man Mbappe in one of the most brutally effective man-marking performances I’ve witnessed. He also grabbed a goal and 2 assists over both legs and was Man of the Match in each.

This can hardly be put down to simply a good year, or a comfortable system at the Old Lady. No, Alves has been remarkably consistent his entire career in just about every aspect of his game. Even better for Manchester City fans, he has experience under Guardiola, whom he describes as the best manager in the history of the sport, and being Brazilian would provide a soft landing of communication for newly acquired goalkeeper Moraes Ederson. What’s not to like?

Well, his age, but Alves can’t do much about that. Oh and that it might mean the Blues are less likely to buy another, younger, right back, as we said. Many sources, including those who have input on the potential of Alves to City, report that Dani would be brought in as well as another option at right back, such as Kyle Walker. It seems Guardiola wants four fullbacks, not simply two.

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Either which way, it’s hard to feel much in the way of pity for the Blues as they stand on the cusp of bringing in a world-class replacement to an out-of-position Jesus Navas. Alves may well suffer a drop in form or struggle to adjust to the Premier League, though I doubt it, but it’s obvious Pep has gone for a safe choice in a season when success will be borderline essential. Don’t delete your Manchester City with Dani Alves save on Football Manager just yet, but don’t be too shocked if you see this one over the line in real life too.

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