Jordi Alba to leave FC Barcelona at the end of the season

FC Barcelona and Jordi Alba have reached an agreement to terminate the player's contract with the club one year earlier than it was due to expire at the end of the 2023/24 season.

FC Barcelona would like to publicly express its gratitude to Alba for his professionalism, commitment and dedication, and his ever-positive and friendly relationship with all members of the Barça family, and wishes him every fortune in the future. Barça will always be a home for you, Jordi.

Long road to success

Jordi Alba, who has made the left side of the field his own in over a decade at Barça is leaving the club as the third captain of the senior team, bringing an end to a glittering career in which he has won 18 major trophies. In 458 appearances (at the time of writing) he has scored 19 goals and given 91 assists, a considerable number considering the position he plays in.

Jordi Alba came out of La Masia, although his rise to success happened via a very different route to the the typical one at the club.

After a few years in the blaugrana youth set-up, where he was originally more of a midfielder, and sometimes even an attacking one, he left to play youth football at a smaller local club, Unió Esportiva Cornellà. 

Two years later, he got snapped up by Valencia, which is where he started to shine in the new position of left back, eventually winning international caps for Spain and even scoring a goal in the Euro 2012 final. It was shortly after that when he got the call to return to FC Barcelona after almost a decade away.

Master down the left

Alba is the archetypical wing-back, and although he has always been a key part of the Barça defence, he will be best remembered for his speedy trademark runs down the wing. He has particularly excelled at knowing exactly when and how to do so. When Jordi Alba starts zooming in on the opposition's area, one always senses something is about to happen. His 91 assists are testimony of that.

For many years, the man typically on the receiving end of those goal passes was Leo Messi. The two had an uncanny relationship. Alba and the Argentinian always seemed to know instinctively what the other was about to do, often creating goals out of nowhere.

Sadly, however, it seems all good things have to end, and the curtain will be coming down on Jordi Alba's time at Barça in just a few weeks. We wish him well with his future plans, whatever they might be.