Barcelona fan website, Barca Blaugranes, described Alexis’ move to Arsenal as one of ‘most divisive decisions’ their director of football, Andoni Zubizarreta, had made since being handed the role in 2010. The website also described the Chilean as one of their best players from the 2013/14 season.

However, they quickly moved on to talk of the future. By the time the Alexis deal was announced, it was common knowledge that Barca were going to complete the signing of Luis Suarez from Liverpool, who fans of the Catalan team saw as a ‘game changer’.

Could this, despite Alexis’ solid 2013/14 season, be why the La Liga giants were so keen to sell the forward, who was still three years off his peak, go?

Barcelona’s financial problems for much of the past decade haven’t exactly been a secret.

They couldn’t expect to spend £75m on one player without having to give someone up. At the time, while a prospect, Alexis was probably the most feasible, quality player they could sell for a decent chunk of money.

Alexis’ move also, as Barca Blaugranes pointed out, made way for some home-grown players and, while selling the Chilean over Pedro was met with criticism, they said that, “Pedro embodies the spirit of the club: selfless, hard-working, yet ruthless – a world-class player who will be content to stay at Barça, even without a guaranteed berth in the line-up.”

This suggests that Pedro has the type of attitude where he would work hard, regardless of whether he was in the starting line-up.

But does this mean that Alexis wasn’t willing to hang around in the same circumstances?

The forward practically said as much upon his arrival at Arsenal.

“I never regret my decisions,” he said at the beginning 2016. “It wasn’t easy to leave ­Barcelona. I fulfilled a dream when I moved there – to play in Spain and for the champions – but very few players stay in the same club all their life. To leave is normal.

“I wanted a new project, a new experience. And with so many attacking players at Barca it was a good choice to go.

“The directors told me clubs were interested. So I think it was a good choice to go to Arsenal, the best choice. It has been a positive move and I love it at Arsenal.”

It sounds as if Alexis couldn’t see himself ever becoming one of the big hitters at Nou Camp and decided to leave. The directors, knowing they needed the money, obliged.

It was either him or joint-highest goal-scorer Pedro, whom they sold the following year to Chelsea.

Alves suggested that Alexis was sold because he didn’t fit in with Barcelona’s style.

“(Alexis) didn’t fail…but it’s hard to play here because you have to understand the playing idea,” Dani Alves said in 2016.

“In the end, you are going to have the protagonism anyway but you have to understand that, at Barcelona, it’s not enough just to be a great player.

“You need to have a great understanding of the way Barcelona play and, if you do, then you will have a long career here.

“Those that come and go, that doesn’t mean they are bad players. They go somewhere else and they enjoy it because they are beasts, but at Barcelona it’s not enough just to be a beast of a player.”

However, were there more issues to Alexis’ problems with fitting in than just his style of play?

Next – Is Alexis just passionate or does he have a bad attitude?