Dani Alves snubs Lionel Messi as he picks greatest player for each position in Barcelona history

Defender Dani Alves recently revealed his Barcelona dream team and surprisingly snubbed Lionel Messi in the attacking position. Instead, Alves picked another club legend, Samuel Eto'o, as the greatest player to spearhead the attack in his dream team. He revealed his dream during his interaction with the Barcelona social media team.

Alves picked Victor Valdes as the goalkeeper and Carles Puyol as the defender. He picked former teammate and current head coach Xavi Hernandez as the all-time great midfielder of Barcelona in his dream team.

However, in the forward position, the Brazilian snubbed his good friend and former team-mate Lionel Messi for Samuel Eto'o. Alves called Eto'o a "machine for killing goalkeepers."

The 40-year-old Cameroonian spent five years at the Catalan club since his arrival in 2004 from fellow La Liga rivals Mallorca. Eto'o netted as many as 130 goals in 199 appearances for Barcelona. After leaving the Spanish side in 2009, Eto'o went on to play for Inter Milan, Chelsea and Everton. The Cameroonian international called upon his retirement in 2019 after spending a year at Qatar SC.

Dani Alves' exclusion of Messi from the forward position comes as a surprise. The Argentina international is the club's highest goal scorer (672) and has taken it to new heights. Among other titles, Messi's biggest achievement at the Catalan club was winning the Champions League four times and getting six Ballon d'Or awards.

It is being suggested that the criteria was to pick only those players who have announced retirement from all forms of football. However, there is no real clarity about the criteria chosen to select the players. Earlier, Xavi Hernandez picked Andres Iniesta in his dream team despite the Spanish international actively participating in the Japanese league.

Alves rejoined his former club recently after Xavi took over the managerial job after the sacking of Ronald Koeman.

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Barcelona confirm second exit in winter transfer window after Coutinho joins Aston Villa on loan

Barcelona have confirmed another exit in the January transfer window. Brazil international Philippe Coutinho has been loaned out to Premier League side Aston Villa.

The Catalan club have confirmed Alex Collado's departure to fellow La Liga side Granada as their second exit. Blaugrana failed to register Collado with the club citing bureaucratic issues so he has been on the bench since the start of the season. The 22-year-old midfielder has now been sent on loan until the end of the season by Xavi Hernandez.