Messi's favourite victim Alves, sacked by his club

Diego Alves is Messi's favourite victim

Messi's favourite victim Alves, sacked by his club

Faruq Ibrahim 15:15 - 15.04.2023

The goalkeeper who has conceded the most goals to seven-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi has been sacked by his club.

Diego Alves, who famously received 21 beers in 2021 for each of the goals he conceded against Lionel Messi, has seen his contract terminated by LaLiga side Celta Vigo.

The 37-year-old amassed over 300 appearances in the Spanish leagues, in goal for Almeria and Valencia. Celta are the third Spanish side he has been contracted to; however, he has now been fired before making his first appearance.

Celta part ways with Alves

The Galician club released a statement via their official channels today that they have reached an agreement with Alves for an early termination of his contract, which was set to expire at the end of the season.

Messi scored 21 goals against Diego Alves
Messi scored 21 goals against Diego Alves

The Brazilian shot-stopper joined Celta on a free transfer in February, as the club looked for a temporary replacement in goal for Agustin Marchesin, who hurt his Achilles and was ruled out for the rest of the season.

However, Alves had been unable to make a debut for Celta as he himself is currently injured, hence sidelined.

Celta statement: “RC Celta and Diego Alves have reached an agreement to terminate the contract that bound both parties until the end of this season,” per the club website.

“The club wants to thank Diego for his involvement and dedication in these months, as well as wishing him all the luck in his new professional challenges and a speedy recovery from his injury.”

var widgetLoaderConfig = widgetLoaderConfig || { CDN_URL: 'https://widgets.sportal365.com', APP_LINK: 'desktop', API_URL: 'https://africa.football.api.sportal365.com/', API_KEY: '2f852b4de2f3a5cf3188e74b33087bb4:2c18422f8e826a7d11aeed52edb2449e', LANG: 'en', REQUEST_INTERVAL: 30, ENABLE_BET_SLIP: false, AUTHOR: false, THEME: "light", TOURNAMENT_ORDER: "pulse_nigeria", LINK_OPTIONS_V2: { 'player' : { 'url': '/football/player/{playerId}' }, 'team' : { 'url': '/football/{teamId}' }, 'tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}' }, 'match': { 'url' : '/football/match/{matchId}', 'sort': { 'criteria': 'alphabetically', 'direction': 'asc' } }, 'configuration': { 'newWindow': false }, 'standings_tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}/standings' } } }; if (!document.querySelector('script[src="https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js"]')) { window.setTimeout(function () { let scriptCss = document.createElement('link'); scriptCss.href = 'https://www.pulsesports.ng/css/sport-widgets.css?v=1668785443'; scriptCss.rel = 'stylesheet'; scriptCss.type = 'text/css'; document.body.appendChild(scriptCss); let scriptTag = document.createElement('script'); scriptTag.src = 'https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js'; scriptTag.defer = true; scriptTag.onload = function () { window.setTimeout(function () { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }, 200); }; document.head.appendChild(scriptTag); }, 0); } else { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }

Diego Alves, during his stint in LaLiga let in 21 goals to Barcelona legend Lionel Messi. the tally is the most the Argentine has scored against a single goalkeeper,

Celta’s hot commodity

Meanwhile, Gabri Veiga, a midfielder for Celta Vigo, is reportedly more interested in joining Arsenal this summer than Newcastle United. The 20-year-old has enjoyed a standout season, making 29 appearances and contributing three assists while scoring nine goals.

According to a recent report from Mundo Deportivo, the two clubs vying to capture the Spanish player, who has a £35 million release clause, are Arsenal and Newcastle. The young midfielder had to pick between the two teams this summer but would prefer to join Mikel Arteta's squad.

Related content