When will Dani Alves make his Barcelona debut?

James Shearman

• 17 Nov 2021 10:37 CST
• 3 min read

Dani Alves has returned to Barcelona for a second spell at Camp Nou, five years after he left for Paris Saint-Germain.

The 38-year-old has been brought in as part of new head coach Xavi's plans to restore La Blaugrana to the top of La Liga.

However, Alves will be made until next year to complete his comeback.

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Despite Miralem Pjanic's move to Besiktas, and therefore a free space in the squad, Alves' Sao Paulo contract was not terminated in time.

Even though he is a free agent signing, the Brazilian will have to wait until the opening of the January transfer window in order to be registered to compete.

An alternative to registering Alves through the standard procedures would be use him as an injury replacement.

Sergio Aguero could be ruled out long-term after experiencing a heart arrythmia against Alaves, meaning another player could take his place.

Barcelona replaced Ousmane Dembele with Martin Braithwaite in 2020 when the Frenchman suffered one of his many serious injuries.

However, the La Liga ruling stipulates that the injury replacement must come from within the Spanish leagues, preventing Alves' inclusion.

Yet, it will not be the first time that Barcelona have signed a player that had to wait to make their debut.

In 2015, both Aleix Vidal and Ardu Turan were forced to watch from the sidelines for the first half of the season.

When will Alves make his Barca debut?

Given that Alves will be registered at the start of January, Barcelona's fixture against RCD Mallorca on 2 January would make sense as his first appearance.

Not only would the Brazilian have had almost two months to prepare, but the game should provide a fairly easy test of his current ability after two years away from European football.

But, Alves will provide more to the club than just his performances on the pitch.

Xavi will be hoping that he, as a fellow member of Pep Guardiola's glorious multiple title-winning side, can teach the youngsters how to win.