Dani Alves warns Lionel Messi not to make the same Barcelona mistake he did

Dani Alves has offered his advice to former teammate Lionel Messi as the Argentine approaches the final weeks of his Barcelona contract.

Messi is no closer to resolving his situation after months of uncertainty, although Barca have made a fresh move to keep hold of their captain by tabling a 10-year deal.

Meanwhile, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City are continuing to monitor the situation carefully as they weigh up summer swoops for the 33-year-old, who will become a free agent at the end of June as it stands.

But Alves has reminded Messi of the advice the six-time Ballon d'Or winner gave him when he was considering a Camp Nou exit.

"I have said to Messi several times: he was born to be a Barcelona player and Barcelona were born to be his club,” Alves told The Guardian .

"He has given me advice before so I can do the same to him. Once he told me to stay in Barcelona because there wasn’t any place that was better. ‘Where will you be happier?’ he asked me. So I stayed.

"Now I have reminded him of that conversation and that a good friend (Messi) advised me that Barcelona is the best place ever.

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"I haven’t had an answer from him yet but when you leave Barcelona you realise how good it is."

Alves and Messi won everything there is to win with Barcelona during a stunning eight-year spell between 2008 and 2016.

The Brazilian right-back – now playing for Sao Paolo – admits he regrets leaving Catalonia and urged Messi not to commit the same mistake he did.

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Alves added: "All the players, and I mean everyone, who has left Barcelona have been sorry. All of them regret leaving, irrespective of the reason.

"When I left the club, I just wanted to show my value to get back. But, unfortunately, the same people who were against me when I was at the club stayed there.

"I showed that I was able to play for Barcelona for another 10 years. I tried to go back to Barcelona. I wanted to go back to Barcelona. I played to go back to Barcelona, but they didn’t want me anymore."

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