Jordi Alba
Jordi Alba Ramos is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Major League Soccer club Inter Miami. He is often regarded as among the best full-backs of his generation. Alba started his career at Barcelona, but was released. After joining Cornellà, he moved to Valencia. In 2012 he returned to Barcelona, with whom he has won sixteen major honours, including five La Liga titles, five Copas del Rey and one UEFA Champions League. After winning 23 caps and scoring one goal at youth level, Alba made his senior debut for Spain in 2011. He was an integral member of the team that won UEFA Euro 2012, and was also part of the squads at the FIFA World Cup in 2014, 2018, and 2022, and the European Championship in 2016 and 2020. Alba was the captain of the team that won the 2022–23 UEFA Nations League. In 2023, he announced his international retirement.
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On 28 June 2012, Alba signed a 5-year contract with Barcelona for a transfer fee of €14 million.[20] He made his official debut on 19 August, playing the full 90 minutes in a 5–1 home win against Real Sociedad. Alba scored his first goal for the Blaugrana on 20 October 2012, the opener in a 5–4 win at Deportivo La Coruña, and scoring an own goal. In the following game, at home against Celtic in the Champions League group stage, he found the net in the 93rd minute of a 2–1 win. On 12 March 2013, Alba scored his fifth goal of the campaign, scoring in the last minute to complete Barcelona’s 4–0 home win over A.C. Milan in the Champions League round of 16 after a 0–2 first leg defeat at the San Siro, when his team became the first in the competition’s history to overturn such a deficit. He ended his first season at Barcelona as league champion, as Tito Vilanova’s side regained the title from Real Madrid. On 2 June 2015, Alba agreed to a new 5-year contract with a new buyout clause of €150 million. Four days later, he started in the Champions League final, helping the club to its fifth win in the competition by beating Juventus 3–1 at Berlin’s Olympiastadion. He made 38 appearances in all competitions, with one goal, as Barça won a treble. On 22 May 2016, Alba won the second Copa del Rey of his career, scoring in the 97th minute of the final against Sevilla after a through pass from Lionel Messi, in an eventual 2–0 extra-time win at the Vicente Calderón in Madrid. On 11 March 2019, Alba agreed to a new five-year contract with a new buyout clause of €500 million. Alba missed out on 50% of the games in the 2019–20 season, missing 12 out of 24 games, due to a hamstring injury and a muscle injury. Alba had his best performance in the 2020–21 season where he scored 5 goals and 13 assists in all competitions as he won the Copa del Rey with his club. On 9 August 2021, Jordi Alba was announced as the 4th captain of Barcelona after captain Lionel Messi left the club ahead of the 2021–22 season. On 24 May 2023, it was announced that Alba would leave Barcelona at the end of the 2022–23 season, after the player and the club reached an agreement to terminate the contract one year earlier than its expiration.
