Dani Alves: Former Barcelona defender set for plea deal in sexual assault trial

Former Barcelona defender Dani Alves is reportedly set to agree to a plea deal with Spanish prosecutors who brought charges of sexual assault against him 

Alves has spent the last nine months in prison after an incident in a Barcelona nightclub led to the Brazilian facing sexual assault and rape charges. 

The former Barcelona defender has been in prison since the December incident and has been denied bail on multiple occasions as he awaits a trial to settle the charges against him. 

Throughout his ordeal, Alves has claimed innocence, first stating that he did not know the accuser before switching his story after the release of CCTV footage, saying that he had indeed met the woman in question but had not done anything that was not consented to. 

In new developments reported by Spanish outlet Marca, Alves could be set to change his story once again and change his plea to allow him to come to a compromise with the Spanish authorities. 

They report that Alves is now set to plead guilty to the charges in order to negotiate a reduced sentence with the prosecutors. 

Alves could be facing up to 10 years in prison if he is found guilty in court, and the Brazilian is reportedly intent on avoiding a court hearing and is willing to settle out of court with prosecutors and the victim of the incident, who will be due compensation from the former Barcelona man. 

This new strategy is supposedly the masterstroke of his new lawyer, Ines Guardiola, who replaced Cristobal Martell with the joy of the former Brazilian midfielder.