Brazilian international Dani Alves has hinted that he expects former Barcelona teammate Lionel Messi to return the favour. Dani Alves made this known in an interview with The Guardian while talking about the future of Messi at Barcelona.

Dani Alves revealed that Messi advised him to stay at Barcelona and that he's also in a position to do likewise for him. The fullback is optimistic that Messi would return the favour by also listening to his own advice for the petite Argentine player to commit his future to the Catalan giants. Dani Alves was advised by Messi to stay at Barcelona and he heeded the advice from the six-time Ballon d'Or winner.

Alves and Messi enjoyed a very good football relationship and they won several trophies together at the club.

Messi has been at the centre of a lot of Barcelona news in the past months as his future is still unclear. The Barcelona talisman has a few weeks left on his contact with the Catalans as things stand. Barcelona fans want him to stay at the club but that would depend on his negotiations with the Laporta-led board.

The previous Barcelona board under Josep Maria Bartomeu was in place when Messi tried to leave the club last summer. The Argentine international skipper was not happy with the state of the club. Messi was blocked from leaving Barcelona by the Bartomeu-led board. In the end, Messi won the battle after board members including president Bartomeu resigned from their respective positions. Former president Laporta became the new Barcelona president via the elections earlier this year and he has always said that he wants Messi to stay at the Nou Camp.