BarcelonaThis summer marks the 10th anniversary of the signing of Jordi Alba by Barça. With the numbers in hand, the acquisition that Andoni Zubizarreta, the then Catalan sports director, negotiated in 2012 with Manuel Llorente, then president of Valencia, has given an extraordinary performance. In exchange for a transfer amounting to 15 million, Barcelona have ended up enjoying a side that has marked an era. Because, apart from a start to the journey affected by injuries and a brief stint on the bench with Luis Enrique in the 2016/17 season, L’Hospitalet de Llobregat has been undisputed on the left wing since returning to club in which it formed partially like soccer player. In fact, under the orders of Xavi Hernández, a former teammate who is also the seventh coach to lead him at the Camp Nou, he has not only maintained this status, but has strengthened it.
Alba is the only member of the current squad who has not yet been a substitute with Egarenc as coach. He has played as a starter whenever available. And when he hasn’t, his place has been filled by non-specific profiles such as Dest, Araujo, Lenglet and Mingueza. The reason: the point of insufficient maturity that Xavi sees in the young Alejandro Balde, who at the beginning of the season, still with Koeman on the bench, even got to start against Granada. To minimize dependence, coaches have asked the sports management for a signing to better cover the left side. Xavi himself expressed this concern at a recent press conference: “My idea is to have two competitive players in each position.” However, beyond the complication of going shopping with the salary cap exceeded, the area led by Mateu Alemany and Jordi Cruyff prioritizes other positions to strengthen because they find among the future sides some reluctance to change their minds to have to compete with Alba.
Jordi Alba has always played as a starter under Xavi Hernández
“In general we receive respect because they see that Barça will have it lean to play”, they admit to ARA from the Camp Nou, where today they regret that the club did not make the bet, when Bartomeu was still in charge, for sides that have emerged in recent years in Europe such as the Portuguese Nuno Mendes (PSG) or the Canadian Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich). The secretariat had positive reports and began informal contacts with both, but the club ruled out making a firm investment due to an economic issue (Davies cost five million euros at just 16 years old), due to the balance of the locker room (Alba he was a head partner of Leo Messi) and because spending on young sides would have aroused criticism as a result of the treatment given to Marc Cucurella and Juan Miranda, two reliefs of the house who had to leave for lack of opportunities.
Gayà was Mateu Alemany’s favorite bet
This part of the story, prior to Barça’s economic collapse and the election of Joan Laporta as president, serves to understand the current picture, in which Alba lives without competition in the staff and earns a millionaire salary thanks to an armored contract until June 30, 2024. It is true that there is a will to look for an alternative, but the financial reality of the entity rules out top-level options that would threaten its ownership. And those who are more modest doubt the appropriateness of landing at the Camp Nou because they fear the substitute who once embittered Lucas Digne, today one of the best left-backs in the Premier League, or Junior Firpo, who had of packing last summer. One of them, José Luis Gayà, Germany’s favorite, has already decided not to take the plunge and all indications are that he will renew with Valencia.
However, they remain futuristic to convince at a reasonable cost, as Álex Grimaldo, Marcos Alonso or Javi Galán. The first is Xavi’s favorite, but Benfica rates him at 15 million, and Barça, as we said, sees it more necessary to spend money on other positions. The second is an old Barça wish, but it is 32 years old. He is the third youngest (27), but has a contract until 2026 and Celta de Vigo, the club to which he belongs, does not want to sell him for less than his termination clause, which is 18 million. The market will be long, the entity will receive more offers (such as Tagliafico in the winter market) and it is worth remembering that the workforce will have to generate salary savings before any registration operation can be considered. It will be a busy summer, rich in soap operas and exposed to surprises at the Camp Nou.
