The most interesting Liga MX news this week had little to do with what transpired on the field; instead, the Mexican soccer world was preoccupied with Pumas UNAM publicly declaring on Saturday that they had signed Brazil star Dani Alves. Alves passed a medical on Saturday, signing with the Mexican league’s Pumas. After the signing, Dani Alves met with the rest of the team’s players and participated in his first workouts in the Pumas facilities. The first half started, and everyone in Mexico was focused on Dani Alves’ debut, as he was named in the starting eleven in his first game for the Pumas. Dani Alves was received by Marc Crosas of the Blaugranas youth team and offered some short words, the first he had said since landing in Mexico.
On his way to his hotel, where he will be spending the night, Dani Alves took a guided tour around the famous section of Mexico City just beyond the Olympic University stadium, even wearing the mask of a saint on board the lorry in which he was travelling. Puma Unam Brazilian international player, Dani Alves, received documents recognising him last Thursday as a resident of Mexico, as announced by Mexicos National Migration Institute (INM). Alves went somewhat poetic during his presentation, noting that Pumas’ association with club owners UNAM, one of the premier colleges in Latin America, motivated a transfer to the Mexico City squad.
Dani Alves has started following the Instagram accounts of Pumas UNAM, which has excited fans of the team, who were already eager to see him wearing a jersey from the group. Through its Twitter account, the Pumas squad sent Dani Alves a message. The Mexican league’s Pumas are hoping that Alves will become a positive influence within a locker room that, apart from foreign players, has a core of young players that are being eyed as futures for the Pumas.
Pumas UNAM has not been crowned league champions since 2011 and ended 11th in the 2021-22 season. Alves earned six La Liga titles and three Champions League trophies during his original eight-year stint with Barcelona. He has also earned 125 caps for Brazil and hopes to be a part of the country’s World Cup team in Qatar later this year. The 39-year-old was just released by Barcelona and will seek to revitalise a Pumas team that hasn’t won a league title since 2011. Although they are one of Mexico’s traditional “Big Four,” they have been challenged in recent seasons for depending on rosters with minimal depth.
