In the summer of 2017, Man City focused on recruiting young talents, the most obvious of which were the two contracts of Bernardo Silva from Monaco and goalkeeper Ederson from Benfica. However, this trend could change if they sign full-back Dani Alves.
The Brazilian defender may not be at his peak as good as he was in 2010 2011 at Barcelona, but looking at what Alves did on Juventus' journey to the UEFA Champions League 2016-17 final, he still showed himself to be a classy player on the right wing, whether a right midfielder, right back or a right wing-back.
In Juventus' 3-0 victory over his former team Barcelona, Dani Alves had an extremely impressive performance and pointed out the Catalan team's shortcomings at right-back. In the first leg of the semi-final against Monaco, he continued to play outstandingly with 2 assists for Gonzalo Higuain.
Alves may have left behind the best days of their careers but still have the ability to make a turning point in big matches. In the context of a lack of full-backs, the former Sevilla defender will be a good addition to Man City.
When Juventus CEO Giuseppe Marotta confirmed Dani Alves was preparing to part ways with the team, the day he met coach Pep Guardiola was not far off. This coach himself has elevated Alves to the position of a top full-back.
When he was at Sevilla, Alves was a simple right winger, able to play both as a right-back and a right midfielder at the same time. At Barcelona, he became a more collective person. He gradually learned how to bring the best to Lionel Messi. Alves always step into Messi's position to let M10 dribble in the middle. The full-back once shared in The Times last year that Pep Guardiola is Albert Einstein in football and he learned how to play without the ball from this coach.
Alves' attacking statistics are too high for a blocking full-back, not to mention that his recoveries are too big for a winger. If he were classified as a shuttle midfielder, it would not be suitable.
This is especially interesting for coach Pep Guardiola after he recreated what he had at Bayern Munich against Man City in the 2016-17 season. He asked the full-backs to move into the midfield to create conditions for the players to run up the wing. Thanks to that, the full-backs also have to run less to complete their defense.
Philipp Lahm and David Alaba did this very well at Bayern Munich, but Man City do not have full-backs with enough technical and tactical qualities to have a perfect performance.
With Dani Alves, Man City will have a full-back with great technique. However, with the Brazilian no longer able to move around, coach Pep Guardiola can consider him as a full-back and central midfielder.
This summer 2017, the Spanish strategist also had to find another player like that on the left wing. The possibility of him finding a good person like Alves is probably not high.
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