Jordi Alba tempted by move to ‘special’ Premier League after ending 11-years run at Barcelona

Interviewing Jordi Alba last week, when he finally cleaned out his locker on the Barcelona training ground after 11 years, gave him the opportunity to share something new.

Lionel Messi had just told Barcelona he would not be going back and would move to the US instead. The words ‘Inter Miami’ arouse surprise and make Alba reach for his mobile phone.

“There’s nothing yet,” he says, as he’s been told by one of his media teams that while the story is all over social media, there’s still no official confirmation.

Alba undoubtedly received a message from Messi shortly afterwards. The pair have spent most of the past decade exchanging messages and perfect passes. The MLS club are now favorites to sign him, although there is also interest from Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid.

Messi has never had a better assistant in his time at Barcelona, ​​the two were on the same footballing wavelength and most of the 18 trophies the 34-year-old defender has won have been with Messi at his side.

Alba won everything at club level during more than a decade of loyal service

Lionel Messi and Alba could join Inter Miami and revive their powerful combination

The only thing Alba is convinced of is that his career at the very highest level is certainly not over.

And in timely confirmation, he will captain Spain in the Nations League semi-final against Italy on Thursday night.

“I’m excited to still be in the national team and I want to stay in it as long as the coach thinks it’s right,” he says. “As for a club, now I have to look for the best offer.”

Will there also be a call from England?

“I never thought about anything other than La Liga before because I was always so focused on Barcelona,” he says.

“But of course you see the Premier League, the atmosphere there. I talk to a lot of people from the national team who have played in both leagues [Spanish and English] and they say it’s special and I always thought there would come a day… but I don’t know.’

Alba was second-choice to 19-year-old Alejandro Balde at Barcelona last season, but that decision wasn’t entirely a football decision.

With salary and overdue earnings from when senior players’ wages froze over the pandemic, Barcelona should pay him around €36m in his final year.

They couldn’t afford it, so they quickly tracked down his teenage deputy to make sure Alba got the message that he would play less and less the longer he stayed.

A tearful President Joan Laporta thanked Alba at his media farewell two weeks ago for waiving a significant chunk of money owed as he left a year short of fulfilling his contract.

The Spaniard is captain of the national team and is considering his next club move

Aston Villa might have been an option for Alba had they not bought another left-back from Spain in Alex Moreno last January. Alba was moved to left back from left winger under now-Villa coach Unai Emery when they were together in Valencia.

His form there earned him a move to Barcelona in 2012, where he became, in the words of team-mate Sergi Busquets, the ‘club’s greatest ever left-back’.

He was not always appreciated, especially when a campaign aimed to make him and other top-earning senior players the bad guy in Barcelona’s financial horror story.

‘If you go, you will be appreciated more; it happens to everyone,” he says of the outburst of gratitude since he quit.

And about being a scapegoat, he adds: ‘I got paid what I got, but I was always a cost-efficient player. The problem wasn’t me, or [Gerard] Pique or Busquets. If the club needed me, if they asked for something, I was there for them.’

He has also been a fine servant for Spain and when he leads them off against Italy in the Netherlands on Thursday, the memories of his finest hour for his country will resurface.

He scored the second in a 4-0 win over Italy as Spain destroyed their rivals to win Euro 2012 – Alba rushed into center forward (and finished in one) from a pass from Xavi.

“We saw at the last European Championship that they play a style of football very similar to ours and unfortunately they beat us on penalties in that tournament,” he says. “They are rebuilding, but Italy is Italy.”

The Netherlands or Croatia will wait in the final if Spain makes it and then Alba can go on holiday with his family and choose his next club. “Wherever I go, I’ll be fine,” he says.

Alba has drawn interest from Inter Milan and Benfica and is tempted by the Premier League

Alba is one of the best defenders in Barcelona’s history, but has left the club

That’s certainly the way things have gone so far for the player Barcelona turned down at 16 because they thought he was too short.

“I always knew it would be difficult to play for the Barcelona first team,” he recalled that early setback.

“But I told my parents I was sure I would make it to the first division one day, maybe not 11 years with Barcelona and for the Spanish team, but I was sure I would make it.”

He made it Messi’s perfect winger and it could well be a relationship that is not over yet.