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Barcelona legend Dani Alves knows all about what it takes to play for the Catalan giants and has offered new signing Sergino Dest a little bit of advice.
The Brazilian international enjoyed huge success with the Catalan giants, winning six La Liga titles and lifting the European Cup three times during his eight years at the Camp Nou.
Barca have struggled to replace Alves since he left in 2016 with USMNT starlet Dest the latest player brought in with a view to making the right-back slot his own.
Alves was asked about the 20-year-old in an interview with RAC1 and had some simple words of wisdom for the youngster, “If I have to give some advice to Dest, it’s very simple: pass the ball to Messi! Sergiño Dest has a lot of quality and has chances to win at Barça, but I don’t like to make comparisons. It happened to me with Cafú…they don’t make sense.”
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Dest Making an Impact for Club and Country
Dest only arrived at Barcelona from Eredivisie club Ajax in October but has already made an impact at the Camp Nou. The defender has featured on both sides of the defense and has made six appearances already for the Catalan giants.
The full-back has also been called into the USMNT squad for forthcoming international matches against Wales and Panama. Barcelona team-mate Konrad de la Fuente has also been called up by coach Gregg Berhalter.
Visual reference of this month’s #USMNT squad.
Who are you most excited to see take on 🏴 and 🇵🇦?
Dest will be hoping to feature for the national team over the international break, while Konrad could make his debut for the USMNT if Berhalter hands the youngster minutes in either match.
Alves Talks Messi & Barcelona
Alves also offered his thoughts on his former club and captain Lionel Messi. The Argentine tried to leave the club in the summer transfer window but was denied an exit.
Former team-mate Alves was not too surprised to hear about Messi’s plans and offered his thoughts on the current state of the Catalan giants.
Messi is as big as Barça’s shield. But when you look around and see that everything is a disaster, it’s normal for you to want to leave. What he’s done is so big that they should put his name on the stadium. The power of a club is the players, not the president or the board. The players are the ones who support the club, the ones who get results. That’s why the players must have a voice.
Barça is changing the club’s philosophy, it’s normal to have problems. For me it has lost its identity a bit, and now it has to go through a hard process to recover. It seems to me that Barça now want to be a commercial team, a buying and selling club. And so you lose your identity. I think this is Barça’s problem I always have in mind that one day, somehow, I will return to Barça. It is a club I love, the city that is my home, where I want to live. Even if I am a fan, I will return.
Alves returned to Brazilian football with Sao Paulo in 2019 after a lengthy spell in Europe but will always be remembered fondly by Barca fans for his brilliance at the Camp Nou.
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