Dani Alves Reveals How Close He Came to Joining Jose Mourinho's Chelsea & Why the Move Broke Down

Dani Alves has revealed how close he came to joining Chelsea instead of Barcelona, and says that the move broke down because of the club, not him.

Alves was hot property in the summer of 2007, having just helped Sevilla win the Copa del Rey and their second consecutive UEFA Cup. 

A move to Chelsea seemed inevitable, with the deal was quite a long way along the road before negotiations broke down. Over a decade later, Alves has revealed how he was not to blame, despite Jose Mourinho's suspicions.

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"I like working with competitive people who want to win," said Alves, quoted by Marca. "I was so close to working with him [Mourinho], I was about to go to Chelsea before arriving at Barcelona. I didn't go to Chelsea because of the club, not because of me.

"I thought it was done, that I was going there to work with him. I don't know if he got different information, that I didn't want to go or whatever, because since then our relationship hasn't been so good, but it wasn't my fault. 

"I was convinced that I was going to work with him and form part of his team."

The rest is history. Alves joined Barcelona the following summer and was part of the legendary team that won all six trophies available to them in 2009. Alves won a total of 23 trophies before he left in 2016.

Alves described the football Barcelona played under Pep Guardiola as 'better than sex' - but explained that he could not reunite with the Spaniard at Manchester City in 2017 due to personal reasons.

Instead he signed for Paris Saint-Germain, though a cruciate ligament injury means he has not played any football yet this season.