The 29 year old right back, who has been a key member of the Blaugrana team since joining from Sevilla for £23 million in 2008, has publicly stated his unhappiness with the club for not moving to deny any speculation that he would leave the club.

Following the Catalan side’s failure to reclaim their Champions League crown after being knocked out in the semi-finals by eventual winners Chelsea, the Brazilian was reported to be on the way out of the club having allegedly had a number of bust-ups with then manager Pep Guardiola.

Big spending Manchester City were the side thought to have the most realistic prospect of signing Alves, with firstly a £28 million bid then a player plus cash deal involving Aleksander Kolarov touted in the media.

Guardiola eventually chose to step down from his post to take a break from football and media speculation surrounding any immediate transfer appeared to die down, but Alves has recently made his unhappiness with the club public, sparking exit rumours once again.

"It’s true that there were rumours that I would not be staying at Barca and I was upset that the club did not intervene,” said the player at a recent press conference. Despite this unhappy reaction the player does not seem opposed to the potential move itself, accepting that the time to move to pastures new will one day come.

"However, I am above that sort of thing and if the time comes when the club decide they don’t need me, I will just have to accept it. I would like to leave in the same way that I joined. I would like to think that when I leave, I would want to feel that I have left my mark, however small it is."

Whether or not this is the end of the story remains to be seen, and despite Alves’ seemingly professional attitude towards a potential departure there may be more to his comments than meets the eye, as a player who was truly eager to stay at the Nou Camp side would perhaps not have publicly stated his unhappiness in the first place.