Jordi Alba wants to play for a few more years, which will likely mean more time sharing the field with Lionel Messi.
And then he simply changed his mind.
Alba spoke ahead of Inter Miami’s training session on Friday about his decision to retire, which was announced earlier this week but took place a few weeks ago. And he’s standing nearby now.
“I think it’s great,” Alba said in his native Spanish from the team’s practice base in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. “Physically, I still feel good…but I think it’s the most honest and fairest thing to do. And it’s also a decision that I’m making alone, and I think it’s the right one.”
Alba finished the Major League Soccer Playoffs with Inter Miami this season, and will go on to play for Spain in three World Cups in 2014, 2018 and 2022, and will end a career in which he helped Barcelona win six Spanish league titles, five Copa del Rey titles and the 2015 Champions League.
“The best thing to do is to stand aside,” Alba said. “I think this is something I should be proud of in my career so far.”
Inter Miami will pay tribute to Alba after their match against Atlanta United on Saturday night. This will be the club’s second major retirement ceremony in as many weeks. Another long-time teammate of Messi’s, Sergio Busquets, will also retire at the end of this season.
Alba has played 95 games in all competitions for Inter Miami, scoring 14 goals and providing 38 assists.
Alba, Busquets and Luis Suarez – whose status beyond 2026 is uncertain – were at Barcelona alongside Messi, and all signed deals to move to MLS relatively quickly when Messi surprised many in the football world by opting to sign with Inter Miami in mid-2023. Messi’s contract expires at the end of this season, but he and the team have been working on a new contract for months.
Messi wrote in a message to Alba on Instagram earlier this week: “Thank you Jordi. I’ll miss you so much. We’ve done so much together and it will feel weird to look to the left and not see you there.”
Messi and Alba have made little secret that they have a connection on the field that cannot be easily explained, a kind of sixth sense that always knows where the other is and where he is going.
“That back pass that we did so many times…the opponent, well, they already knew (it was coming), but maybe the timing that we had or that we have today is still working,” Alba said. “I’m very happy to play with one of the best players in the history of the game. I gave him a lot of assists, but he gave me almost all of the goals I scored. I’m proud to have played with him for so many years.”
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