In the final hours of the market, the unexpected exit door for Barça was left open this Wednesday night for Jordi Alba, one of the four captains of the squad. Unexpected because that scenario -the exit of one of the ‘sacred cows’- had not been considered until the last breath, coinciding with the closing of the market, which will be at 11:59 p.m. today. The Barça club agreed to transfer the left-back to Inter, according to journalist Gerard Romero, although everything was subject to the player’s approval.
Remains Jordi Alba the owner of his destiny because he has a contract until 2024, in addition to being one of the highest players in the squad. Y Xaviwith his last two line-ups, has been sending messages to his former teammate that he has lost influence in the team.
The left-back was the starter on the opening day against Rayo, but later he sat on the substitutes’ bench, both at Anoeta against Real (he only played 19 minutes) and at the Camp Nou against Valladolid (he neither warmed up nor took off the tracksuit).
side dance
bet Xavi for the young Balde (18 years old), while maintaining his desire to incorporate Marcos Alonso, the Chelsea winger, who has been waiting for several days for the final call from Barça to appear at the Camp Nou. With this landscape, Alba’s immediate future is complicated and the World Cup in Qatar is just around the corner.
At 33, he needs to play regularly to maintain his place in Luis Enrique’s Spain and go to what would almost certainly be his last World Cup. Jordi Alba is assessing all of this, immersed in an unprecedented situation for him. The same, or worse, goes Gerard Piqué, who has not played a single minute in the first three days of the League.
It’s up to the left-back to decide if he exhausts the remaining two years of his contract with Barça or undertakes that unexpected Italian path. Although Inter cannot assume, far from it, one hundred percent of the defender’s file. The Barça club will pay 60% of the salary, but would free up room to undertake more operations.
Dest, on the way to Milan
The same thing happens with Sergio Dest, who is finalizing his transfer to Milan when verifying that he no longer has a place at the Camp Nou. He has not been the American defender called up at the start of the season. The door of United was closed to him, he was not interested in leaving on loan to Villarreal to cover the place of the injured Foyth (Villarreal) and in San Siro a gap was opened for him due to Florenzi’s injury.
Xavi needs a pure right back: Meunier, from Dortmund, is the great candidate. There is the option of Bellerin (Arsenal)
The Dest operation would be a simple transfer with a non-mandatory purchase obligation valued at 20 million euros. That forces Barça to look for a right back on the last market day. Meunierfrom Borussia Dortmund, is Xavi’s main candidate, although the option of Hector Bellerin, who belongs to Arsenal, but played on loan last season at Betis.
The Barça coach needs a pure specialist for that right flank of the defense, while the club is willing to break the long hierarchy that ruled on the left side since 2012.
Termination of Martin Braithwaite
Related news
Alba arrived 10 years ago from Valencia. He then paid Barça 14 million euros and became one of the most profitable signings in history thanks to his excellent performance symbolized in his magical connection with Messi. Now, he has lost influence. So much so that the exit door is opened for him, although the decision corresponds solely to Jordi Alba himself.
The club, meanwhile, enters this September 1 on the last day of the market with several operations to close. He plans to terminate Martin Braithwaite’s contract, tries to finalize the transfer of Aubameyang to Chelsea and awaits the arrival of the full-backs that Xavi demands to balance a powerful, but incomplete squad