Dani Alves Not Ready to Retire as He Heads to Mexico

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Dani Alves is one of the most decorated footballers in the history of the game. In terms of the major European competitions, the Brazilian has won it all but at the age of 39, he is not ready to stop playing.

This week, Mexican team Pumas UNAM confirmed Alves was travelling to join them and play in the Liga MX. Alves joins the club on a one-year deal, with the option for a second year, taking him into his 40’s.

You must go back to 2001 to find the beginning of Alves’ career as a professional player. He started with Bahia in Brazil and after only 25 appearances for the club he moved to Sevilla in Spain.

This is where Alves started to make a name for himself as a top full-back and he made 232 appearances in all competitions for Sevilla. Alves ability to not only defend but to provide an attacking threat down the right caught the eye of Barcelona. Sevilla won the UEFA Cup twice and the Copa del Rey with Alves in the team.

In 2008, Alves left the Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán for the Camp Nou for £23 million and even the man himself could not imagine what an immense success he would become at Barcelona.

Alves developed into the best attacking full back in the world during his extensive career at Barcelona. The Brazilian international played 406 times for the Catalan giants and during his first season at the club, Alves won the treble, landing La Liga, Copa del Rey, and Champions League winners medals.

At the time of writing, only 22 players have played more games in La Liga for Barcelona than Alves. In terms of assists, Alves was a constant threat down the right side for Barcelona and he created plenty of goal scoring chances. Alves recorded a total of 104 assists during his time at Barcelona, chipping in with 22 goals.

It was not only his appearances and assists total that is impressive and Alves is the most decorated player in the history of professional football. No man has won more medals than Alves, who has 44 to his name from throughout his career.

The bulk of those medals were won during his first spell at Barcelona between 2008 and 2016. Alves won La Liga 6 times, Copa del Rey 4 times, Champions League 3 times, UEFA Super Cup 3 times, Club World Cup 3 times, and the Supercopa de España 4 times.

Having played for Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain, Alves can add the Serie A title, Coppa Italia, Ligue 1 title, Coupe de France, and Coupe de la Ligue winners medals to his bursting cabinet.

Alves has also won the Copa America twice with Brazil and having played 124 times for his country, he is the third most capped player in the history of Brazilian football.

Yet, at the age of 39, Alves is not finished and will embark on a new chapter in his career in Mexico. Are there yet more trophies and winners medals to come for the full-back?