Barcelona veteran Jordi Alba is playing out his final games as a Blaugrana player.
The 34-year-old has decided that he will leave the club this summer, with an announcement to come. Alba has been a quintessential part of the Barcelona side for a decade of the 11 years he has been the club since returning from Valencia, but has lost his place in the side to Alejandro Balde this year.
🚨💣 Alba will LEAVE FC Barcelona. @gerardromero pic.twitter.com/AAO4Bu90ko
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) May 24, 2023
Adria Albets revealed the information, which will see Barcelona lose their two most veteran players in Alba and Sergio Busquets this summer.
🚨💣 Alba WAIVES 50% of his deferred salary. @gerardromero
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) May 24, 2023
Alba was set to earn €38m next season in deferred salary payments, and with the club looking to cut its wage bill significantly, moving him on or reducing his salary was one of the main goals this summer. Gerard Romero has since put the figure that Alba will waive at around 50% his salary he was due to earn.
‼️ Jordi Alba se va del Barça @QueThiJugues @carrusel https://t.co/dh8S9VLK7N
— Adrià Albets (@AdriaAlbets) May 24, 2023
Toni Juanmarti has also confirmed the news and claims that Alba is set to give up a significant part of the salary he was due to receive this coming season. He had a year left on his deal, but seemingly the club left it to Alba to decide whether he would stay or not.
Confirmado: Jordi Alba se va del Barça.
El lateral pone punto y final a su etapa como azulgrana tras 11 temporadas.
Jordi, que perdona una notable cantidad económica, no tiene aún nada atado de cara al próximo curso.
El club dejó en sus manos el decidir si continuaba o se iba.
— Toni Juanmartí (@tjuanmarti) May 24, 2023
Alba will go down as one of the greatest left-backs in history, and quite probably the best Barcelona have had. His ability to break down defences with accurate deliveries and line-breaking runs was unparalleled for much of his career. From Tito Vilanova’s record-breaking title-winners, only Sergi Roberto remains at the club now.
Much respect jordi alba never let barca down both on and off the pitch,barca will badly miss his bombing runs down the wings,his superb crosses into the box,his speed to cover defensive mistakes at the back and also scoring lots of very important goals which where always nearly all spectacular goals a striker would be proud of lol,i wish you all the very best jordi alba whatever you choose next for your journey someone somewhere will be getting one hell of a lwb that’s for sure,barca would definitely need to give this man a proper send off alongside busquets 2 club legends imo who probably know their time is up and to step aside and let barca plan and recruit for the future much respect 👍👏💪 and one last thing congratulations on your soon to be new arrival jordi alba.
Barca will only miss his attacking prowess of scoring goals bcos, balde also has those attributes u mentioned. Lest we forget balde is only 19 yrs of age. He is got many years ahead of him.
I will surely miss him. What a legend! My favourite moments were the goal he scored against osasuna this season and the incredible volley goal against atletico last season.
A defender with a striker’s heart. What a player.