Atletico Madrid have a history of taken veteran Barcelona stars and making good use of them, and they could be looking to repeat the trick again this summer.
According to Ferran Martinez, Los Colchoneros are considering a move for Barcelona’s Jordi Alba. The left-back has a €38m salary coming his way this summer due to deferred wages, and as such, Barcelona are looking to move him on or at least reduce his wages.
Atletico may be willing to offer him an exit, or even include him in a deal for Yannick Carrasco. Barcelona have an €18m buy clause on Carrasco, but do not want to pay the full amount, and are looking at ways to reduce the cost, but so far the deal is stuck.
🚨 Atlético Madrid are VERY attentive to Jordi Alba. He could be an option to enter the operation for Yannick Carrasco. The other club that have Alba among their targets is Al-Hilal, who dream of reuniting Messi, Busquets and Alba. @martinezferran pic.twitter.com/LzSS7ZxNVd
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) May 18, 2023
The other club monitoring Alba is Saudi Arabian side Al Hilal. With Sergio Busquets on his way out, they would be interested in linking up with the two, and possibly Lionel Messi too.
Alba has maintained that he wants to stay in Barcelona for the final year of his contract, but there is no doubt that either altering his conditions or moving him on is near the top of the club’s priority list for this summer.
If Alba was to move to the Metropolitano, he would follow in a line of deals between the two. Both David Villa and Luis Suarez helped Los Rojiblancos to the league title after leaving Barcelona, while Antoine Griezmann has been a roaring success since making his return permanent. Memphis Depay has been less of a success, but it is early days.
Alba could potentially operate as a left-sided wing-back in a back three-five, or as an out and out left midfielder for Diego Simeone. The 34-year-old is one of the best crossers of the ball in Spain, and exploiting that side of his game has proven rewarding even in his limited minutes this season.
