Two-time Ballon d’Or winner Putellas leaving Barca women’s team

Alexia Putellas, the celebrated two-time Ballon d'Or winner, is set to depart FC Barcelona at the conclusion of her contract this summer, marking the end of a 14-year tenure with the Catalan club. Putellas announced her departure on Tuesday, describing it as the closing of a "perfect story."

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The eternal captain will close the curtain on her career as a Barca player after 14 years with the first team.

Her exit comes shortly after she helped Barcelona secure their fourth Champions League title, defeating Lyon in Oslo and completing a quadruple for the season. "I've always said that you can’t defend this shirt (only) halfway, and I understand that I have given everything I have," Putellas stated in an Instagram video. "I said I wanted the final moment to come when I was at my best, giving everything and with 100 percent energy. That's it, now it's time. It has been a perfect story."

Putellas, who also won the 2023 World Cup, has been a pivotal figure in Barcelona's domestic and European dominance, accumulating 10 Spanish top-flight titles and four Champions League trophies. She began her career at Espanyol before moving to Levante and then Barcelona in 2012. Spanish media have linked her with a move to London City Lionesses, a club owned by Michele Kang, who also owns Lyon.

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I’ve always said that you can’t defend this shirt (only) halfway, and I understand that I have given everything I have. I said I wanted the final moment to come when I was at my best, giving everything and with 100 percent energy. That’s it, now it’s time. It has been a perfect story.

She will play her final home match for Barcelona against Real Sociedad on Wednesday. "Fourteen seasons and more than 500 matches, with moments that will remain forever in Barca’s memory and in my heart," Putellas reflected. "I have been, and will always be, just another cule (Barca fan), like you. That’s why I don’t want this to be a sad moment. This is just a chapter that ends. But luckily, I was born a cule and I will die a cule. So we’ll see each other again."

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Fourteen seasons and more than 500 matches, with moments that will remain forever in Barca’s memory and in my heart. I have been, and will always be, just another cule (Barca fan), like you. That’s why I don’t want this to be a sad moment. This is just a chapter that ends. But luckily, I was born a cule and I will die a cule. So we’ll see each other again.

Putellas's career has been marked by significant achievements and a role in elevating the women's game. She recalled a childhood memory of seeing only men play in the stadium, contrasting it with the present where "more than 90,000 cules would be shouting my name." She added, "We have taken the women’s team further than we ever could have imagined. At the beginning, being a footballer wasn’t even recognised as a profession. And now I feel only the privilege of having been part of this change."

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I only saw men playing in the stadium and it would never have occurred to me that one day, in that very same place, more than 90,000 cules would be shouting my name. We have taken the women’s team further than we ever could have imagined. At the beginning, being a footballer wasn’t even recognised as a profession. And now I feel only the privilege of having been part of this change.