Barcelona confirm that Dani Alves will be leaving the club this summer

All we heard were rumors, rumors, rumors when it came to Dani Alves possibly coming to Juventus. We hadn't heard anything from the Barcelona side of the equation, making us wonder if all this talk about Alves leaving was, you know, actually going to happen.

Well, a major domino fell Thursday.

And the talk of Alves leaving Barcelona is more than just paper talk now. The first big domino in Juventus' reported acquisition of the 33-year-old Brazilian has officially fallen, with Barcelona sporting director Roberto Fernandez confirming that Alves will in fact leave the club this summer. That, of course, swings the door wide open for Alves to trade in his blaugrana for bianconero in the coming weeks.

"It's a personal decision that we respect. Last year his contract renewal was done under special circumstances. At that moment it was logical and normal to renew, as he'd had a great season.

"He always behaved perfectly, but has now decided to leave. He has communicated to the club his decision to leave.

"Alves was an important player and the club decided to renew his contract last year, with the option that if favourable situations emerged for everyone, he could leave a year early. The club does not always win in negotiations.

"We are not happy that Alves is going, as he behaved fantastically on and off the pitch, but it was his decision and we have to respect it."

(Source: Football Italia)

I mean, you can't get more frank and honest than that.

Earlier in the week, Juventus director general Beppe Marotta said that he was "optimistic" that a deal would get done between the five-time defending Italian champions and the Brazilian fullback. Well, I'm pretty sure that optimism on Beppe's part has only improved based on what we know now. Dani Alves is looking more and more likely to be one of Juventus' summer signings. And hey, all that talk about this happening within the next week might actually, well, happen within the next week considering Alves' exit from the Camp Nou is officially official.