With the Brazil captain set for a midweek return to Sevilla, Goal looks back on an incredibly successful career.
Ander Herrera provoked widespread derision when he claimed last month that Antonio Valencia “is the best right back in the world, maybe with Dani Alves." It was a laughable claim but the Manchester United midfielder got one thing right: Alves remains the standard by which all other right backs are measured – and rightly so. He has been at the top of his profession, the best in his position, for a decade. Few other defenders in the history of the game have enjoyed such a sustained period of success.