Neymar on Barça missing Alves and the Brazilian's importance to him
Neymar says Dani Alves is missed inside the Barcelona dressing room, but other players are helping to fill the gap left by the Brazilian international’s summer move to Juventus.
Alves was renowned for being one of the big characters at the club and he was particularly important in helping Neymar settle in when he joined in 2013 from Santos.
“Not like Dani, but… Dani is Dani — he’s unique,” Neymar said in an interview when asked if he had found anyone to fill the void left by Alves’ exit.
“He was an important figure from the day I arrived until the day he left because he helped me inside the dressing room and outside, too.
“I’ll be grateful to him for life. Of course we all miss Dani because he brings joy wherever he is, on the pitch.
“That’s Dani, he’s unique. But we have other players that bring joy, like Pique, he’s always joking, and that softens the atmosphere.”
On arriving in Catalonia, Neymar admitted that he found things difficult at first, but Alves was pivotal in easing him into life at Barca.
He explained: “When you come from elsewhere, Brazil in my case, it’s very different, the play, the tactics, everything.
“It’s quite hard to see how your teammates play and the team and it’s hard to get into the way Barça play.
“But with my teammates help and Alves, who’s been very important for me, I settled into the team very quickly and I’ve been very happy ever since the start.”
