Ben Crump talks about the future of Dani Alves and questions his attitude and passion to play for Barcelona this season.

Following Sunday night’s El Clasico, Barcelona have found themselves with further defensive problems, this time having Dani Alves ruled out for three weeks.

But, the club are concerned Alves has now lost his focus following a summer of a reported move away from the Camp Nou and his change of attitude in and around the club’s facilities.

The former Sevilla man limped off in Sunday night’s El Clasico and was replaced by youngster Martin Montoya but Barca fans were more worried about Alves’s poor start to the season rather than the injury that saw him leave the field.

The Catalan club have felt for some time that Alves has lost his focus after six seasons of success and that his desire to play for the club has now been tainted by reports of a bid from French side Paris Saint-Germain or a big money move to Russia.

While, Alves has been a vitally important part of Barca’s recent successes, having helped create more of Lionel Messi’s goals than any other Barca player, the club and its fans are beginning to question his ability after several high-profile mistakes, namely the ones against Sevilla and Real Madrid.

Alves missed the final stages of last season, missing the Copa del Rey but he was also in trouble with the club by enticing youngster Thiago to celebrate a goal in the game against Rayo Vallecano last season which fiercely upset Rayo’s fans.

He has also been testing the club’s rules after attending an X-Box Live event last season without the club’s permission, an act that infuriated then coach Pep Guardiola.

Fast-forward to this season and so far he has missed the Spanish Super Cup second leg due to problems with his leg and is now ruled out for a further three weeks with the same problem.

During the summer Alves spoke of his anger towards the club saying: “I’m annoyed that the club didn’t come out to defend me”, he said when asked about a summer move.

However, only a week prior to Sunday’s El Clasico, Alves was quoted as saying: “PSG, my door is always open,” to reporters.

Therefore, question marks have now been raised over his passion to play for the club, with only the player himself knowing what he wants in the future.

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