Is Dani Alves leaving Pumas?

Dani Alves has left UNAM fans baffled by deleting the club’s name from his Instagram profile.

Dani Alves misses first day of Pumas training under Rafael Puente

Rumours that Alves could possibly leave Los Auriazules started circulating on Thursday this week after all members of the roster were due to report back to training after their vacation period.

The players were introduced to new head coach Rafael Puente for the first time but conspicuous by his absence from that first training session was Alves, who still harbours hopes of snatching a place on the Brazil roster for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

24 hours later on Friday, Alves deleted all references to Pumas from his Instagram profile, which has intensified rumours that he will not continue playing for Los Universitarios when the Clausura tournament gets underway. By contrast, Alves’ Twitter bio indicates that he is still a Pumas player.

In the 2022 Apertura tournament, the 39-year-old Brazilian featured in 12 games, starting and playing the full 90 minutes in each of them. Despite this, Pumas picked up just 14 points and finished in 16th position in the final standings, failing to qualify for the playoff phase.

The former Barcelona man joined UNAM on a 12-month deal in July, which means he is contracted to the club for the entirety of the 2022 Clausura tournament. In order to keep up his fitness during the Liga MX off-season, and with a view to taking part in the upcoming World Cup, Alves trained with former club Barcelona in October, although Puente confirmed that the Brazilian would be returning to Mexico City to honour the remainder of his contract.