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Jordi Alba is reportedly angry with Barcelona for trying to engineer a transfer to Inter Milan behind his back this summer.
The Spain international started at left-back in Barca's opening La Liga game of the campaign, which ended in a 0-0 draw against Rayo Vallecano.
Manager Xavi Hernandez seemingly lost trust in Alba after that game and started Alejandro Balde in his position in the next three league games. The Catalan giants won each of those three league matches.
Alba's only other start this season season came against Viktoria Plzen on Wednesday (September 7). He played the full 90 minutes as the Blaugranas ran out 5-1 winners in their opening match of the UEFA Champions League group stage.
However, things could have been a lot different for Alba this month had Barca had their way. According to El Nacional, the club reached an agreement with Inter over Alba's transfer without the knowledge of the player.
When I Nerazzurri's offer was presented to him, the former Valencia left-back instantly rejected it. He is believed to be very unhappy with the way Barcelona tried to force him out of the back door at Camp Nou this summer.
To add to his troubles, Barcelona signed Marcos Alonso from Chelsea in the closing stages of the transfer window. Alba is now said to be the third-choice left-back at Barca after nine years of virtually no real competition down the flank.
Voicing his thoughts on his transfer saga in the closing stages of the transfer window, Alba said recently:
"It's not about whether I think it's fair or not. Everyone acts the way they want. I always like to go head-to-head and I like to go head-to-head with the whole world."
He continued:
"I know not everyone likes the way I go sometimes , but that's the way I am. You can always do things better, but honestly, after everything I've seen in football, nothing surprises me anymore."
Alba has played 433 matches so far for Barcelona, registering 25 goals and 94 assists.
Barcelona's Jordi Alba under threat of being displaced from Spain's starting XI
Earlier this summer, it was claimed that Alba would not take a pay cut to help Barcelona's financial situation if the club signed Alonso. His personal frustrations are understandable to an extent.
Alba, 33, is no longer in his prime years anymore and the World Cup in Qatar could be his last hurrah on the big stage with Spain. If 18-year-old Balde starting over him at left-back wasn't a sign that Xavi had lost his trust in Alba, then Alonso's acquisition most certainly is.
Spain manager Luis Enrique has a number of quality left-backs at his disposal. This includes Alonso, Jose Gaya, Alex Grimaldo, Juan Bernat, Sergio Reguilon, Yuri Berchiche, and Sergio Gomez.
