After Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba to leave FC Barcelona this summer

FC Barcelona defender Jordi Alba has decided to leave the club in the summer. The Camp Nou side has terminated Alba’s contract a season early.

Alba, who joined Barcelona from Valencia in 2012, is leaving the Catalan club after 458 appearances in all competitions and winning six La Liga titles, five Copa del Rey trophies and the Champions League in 2015. In the 2022-23 season, Alba has played 29 times for Barcelona, including 23 appearances in La Liga as the Catalans won their first league title since 2019.

Barcelona confirmed the news of Alba’s departure on Wednesday in an official release and thanked the Spanish left-back for his contributions for the club.

“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,” read Barcelona’s statement.

Alba will join club captain Sergio Busquets in leaving this summer. Alba also took to social media and announced his decision in a video.

This move has come as a result of Barcelona trying to reform their squad to meet La Liga’s financial fair play rules. Before the ongoing campaign the club sold shares of their future television rights and their media production unit Barca Studios to allow them to register four new signings. Then, they had to offload a few more players in order to register French defender Jules Kounde, who they had signed from Sevilla last summer by beating Chelsea in the transfer race.

“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 19 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,” the statement read further.

It is not yet known where Alba will head next, although Saudi Arabia has been tipped as one potential option, as well as a sensational switch to Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid.