Alves and Monchi, two legends who were born at the same time

44 titles include Daniel Alves da Silva (Juazeiro, Bahia, Brazil, 1983) to make him on his way to 39 years of age the most successful footballer in history. For many, the best right-back of the 21st century returned to the Camp Nou for Christmas to reinforce Barcelona with Xavi, and despite his age, he continues to show that he has not lost the competitive character that he began to forge when he arrived at Sevilla more than 19 years ago. First on loan from Esporte Clube de Bahia and months later, already owned, in exchange for less than a million euros.

This Sunday will face Monchi, the man who brought him to the other side of the Pond in January 2003. Because next to that of Alves another legend was born, that of probably the best sports director in the world. Despite having sold footballers worth almost 500 million euros in the last 20 years, Ramón Rodríguez Verdejo does not stop bragging about the surplus value and performance of the Brazilian right-back: “The player that I would put as a hiring model and as a possible economic performance that has brought us to Sevilla is, obviously, Daniel Alves. We discovered him practically out of nowhere, he had to have some acclimatization time and then Sevilla gave up winning 5 titles. In the end it was sold, generating a tremendous capital gain and to this day he is still in love with Sevilla”.

45 million euros including bonuses, in addition to the transfer of Fernando Navarro, ended up leaving Dani Alves in the box when he left for Barcelona in August 2008, after beginning to underpin this recent season of Sevilla titles with the first two Europa Leagues, a Copa del Rey, a European Super Cup and another in Spain. “It is a pleasure to be part of Monchi’s history. Its great merit is to detect where people do not detect. It is the success of Seville. Being part of a story like this is always a privilege”, says the now Barcelona fan about the man who brought him to Europe in the book The Monchi Method, by Daniel Pinilla.

A few months ago, before returning to Barcelona after having also tried out for Juventus, PSG and Sao Paulo, Daniel made a name for himself and even let himself be loved by Sevilla. He ended up at the Camp Nou, but I’m sure he finds it very emotional to meet up with the Nervionenses again, with a Jesús Navas who formed with him one of the most offensive right wings in the world and that tomorrow he will wear the bracelet in the red and white eleven. “I carry Sevilla in my heart, in my soul, because it is something very special in my life. Everyone knows it“, the Brazilian has confessed on more than one occasion.