Dani Alves was meant to join Chelsea before his Barcelona switch | OneFootball

Dani Alves admits he was “convinced” he would join José Mourinho at Chelsea, before signing for Barcelona instead.

In 2007, Alves was one of Europe’s most highly coveted player after winning a UEFA Cup, Copa del Rey and Spanish Super Cup treble with Sevilla.

The Brazilian recalls how close a potential transfer to West London was before negotiations mysteriously broke down.

“I didn’t go to Chelsea because of the club, not because of me,” he told Sky Sports. “I thought it was done, that I was going there to work with José Mourinho.

“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.”

“I remember the first chat we had,” Alves says of Guardiola. “From the first moment, he made it very, very, very, very, very clear what he wanted and why had had taken the job.

He had a tremendous desire to do something different as a manager of that club. Obviously it was going to be a challenge, but I remember he said, ‘I can only do it if you follow me.’

“It didn’t turn out too badly for him, eh?”

The 35-year-old helped form one of the greatest ever club sides under Guardiola, and left the Camp Nou in 2016 with six LaLiga and three Champions League titles.