It is no secret that Barcelona made a late attempt to offload Jordi Alba late in the transfer window by accepting an offer from Inter Milan to loan him out.
The Catalan giants had agreed a deal with the Nerazzurri which would see them loan Alba out to the Italians for a year while bearing 60% of his wages. However, the veteran defender refused a move as he decided to stay put and fight for his place in the side.
Now, Pedro Morata has provided an update on the situation and the circumstances that forced Barcelona to take such a step close to the deadline day.
As per the journalist, Barça tried to move Alba on late in the transfer window as his wages for the current season have reportedly been set at €30 million (gross).
Considering that they were having problems registering players, it was important to clear some salary mass for the incoming stars and the club felt that Alba’s departure would help them in that regard as his wages are so high for the current season.
Manager Xavi Hernandez was reportedly open to letting the club captain leave as Alejandro Balde impressed at the start of the season while Barcelona were also bringing in Marcos Alonso.
However, Alba refused to leave Camp Nou and decided to fight to win his place back in the lineup. Having stayed put, the 33-year-old is said to be angry with the club for their attempts to move him on behind his back.
Pedro Morata states that the club captain has no problems with manager Xavi, but is unhappy with president Joan Laporta and director Mateu Alemany over the entire episode.
The left-back recently expressed his frustrations over the handling of the situation by the club, saying:
“I am a man who likes to go face to face I like to go toe-to-toe with everyone, everyone doesn’t like it but I’m like that. I can’t say anything more. I think things can be done better, but nothing surprises me when it comes to football.”
The 33-year-old Spaniard is currently behind Balde and Alonso in the pecking order. And it will be interesting to see if he can reclaim his spot in the starting XI over the course of the campaign.