Tottenham Hotspur were perhaps surprisingly linked with a move for Jordi Alba this summer, but it appears that a deal is unlikely.
Spurs fans may have been surprised by the reports coming from fellow Spanish outlet AS this week which suggested that Mauricio Pochettino was interested in a move for the 29-year-old who has a release clause of around £53 million.
Unless Barca set an asking price significantly lower than his release clause, it seemed incredibly unlikely that Daniel Levy would sanction a move for Alba. Spurs have been ruthlessly shrewd negotiators in the transfer market and comfortably breaking their transfer record on a 29-year-old seemed to go against a lot of the principles that they have had in recent years.
And Alba has seemingly ended any remaining hope Tottenham could have regarding a potential deal by insisting that he is not planning to make a move away from the Catalan giants this summer, and in fact, would like to stay until he hangs up his boots.
“I’m very happy at Barca. If it depended on me, I would stay at Barcelona my whole life,” he told Sport. “But it doesn’t depend only on me, it’s also what the club wants.
“It also depends on my performances, which this season have been very good, but I don’t see myself away from Barca.”
While Alba may not fit the profile of Levy’s usual signings, he would be a superb addition if something incredibly surprising happened and a deal was struck.
The Spain international is arguably the best left-back in the world and has been for a few years, proving dangerous going forward having provided eight assists in La Liga last season.
Unfortunately for any Spurs fans who believe that a deal is possible this summer, it would now appear that Alba has absolutely no plans to leave his current club.
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