DANI ALVES has welcomed a first child with model wife Joana Sanz after having his rape conviction overturned.
The couple have yet to make any official comment and are now back together at their home in Esplugues de Llobregat near Barcelona.
But Tenerife beauty Joana, who six weeks ago posted photos of the bedroom she had prepared for their unborn baby, gave away a big clue today by publishing a picture of a bouquet of flowers she had been gifted in a thank you message.
Alves, 42, who has two teenage children from his first marriage, has yet to update his social media since the birth, which has been reported by Spanish showbiz website Vanitatis.
The newborn, a girl whose full name is not known but is thought to begin with the letter J, is the couple’s first child together.
Joana had shared the news of her pregnancy with her 912,000 fans on Instagram at the end of March.
It was one of her first posts since Alves learnt his conviction and four-and-a-half-year prison sentence for raping a woman in a VIP toilet at Barcelona’s Sutton nightclub in December 2022.
His conviction was later overturned on appeal.
Joana, who had IVF and suffered three miscarriages, shared the news with an emotional video, fighting back tears.
She said: “I didn’t want to say anything until it was more than obvious but I wanted to share it for those who are in the battle themselves.”
“I lost my mother two years ago, I have no parents or siblings, the feeling of orphanage and emptiness has followed me until the day I heard my baby’s heart for the first time.
“My last frozen embryo, my last hope to have that reason to be strong in life. Here she is, healthy and growing.
“And I know that it was my mother who sent her to me so that I never feel alone again, so that I can make her want to live and have this rainbow full of love after so much storm.”
Six weeks ago the pretty brunette told her Instagram fans she was preparing for her soon-to-arrive daughter: “My baby’s room is almost done.
“Here I leave you some of the little things I have been gifted
“By the way we already have a name for the baby. There are clues in the photos.”
Joana and Alves, who spent 14 months on remand in prison ahead of his February 2024 trial, married in 2017 in Ibiza.
The former Barcelona, Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain star had been arrested in January 2023 after flying to Spain from Mexico where he was playing his club football at the time to attend his mother-in-law’s funeral.
Joana gave him a second chance despite admitting she was seeking a divorce following his detention.
Four Catalan High Court judges said in a 101-page written ruling released on March 28 cancelling out Alves’ conviction and prison sentence: “It cannot be concluded that the standards required by the presumption of innocence have been met.”
They also branded his female accuser an “unreliable complainant” based on video evidence and part of her own testimony.
The woman has already confirmed she will launch a last-ditch appeal to Spain’s Supreme Court after her lawyer’s previous attempts to get Alves jailed for 12 years on conviction.
Public prosecutors had gone to trial against him demanding a nine-year prison sentence on conviction and are also appealing.
Alves, who claimed he had consensual sex with his female accuser after initially denying knowing her, has kept a low profile since having his conviction overturned and focused on developing his business interests.
In April 2024 after appealing his conviction and being bailed, he founded a Barcelona-based firm specialising in image rights management and athlete representation.
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