After many months of speculation and emotional games,, including her 500th game for the club, Alexia Putellas, also known as La Reina (the Queen), will leave her childhood club, Barcelona, on her terms.
She leaves this summer, at the expiration of her contract after 14 years at the club, just a matter of days after lifting the Champions League trophy again as Captain for the fourth time in her career.
She has decided not to exercise an option to extend her contract for an additional year, as she desired to leave on her own terms at the peak of her career, and her contract and future at the club were to be overshadowed by financial difficulties.
Her exit marks the end of a defining era for Barcelona and for European women's football, as her future destination remains unknown.
Putellas made clear that timing was central to her decision: “I said I wanted the final moment to come when I was at my best, giving everything and with 100 per cent energy. That’s it, now it’s time.”
She framed her Barcelona journey as a complete story rather than one cut short: “It has been a perfect story…”
The day after her announcement, she spoke at a farewell event at Spotify Camp Nou, describing the physical and mental toll of maintaining elite standards and demanding the most of herself every day.
Putellas accepted that whatever comes next will not replicate her Barcelona experience: “My career will continue, but the best part of it has now passed. Wherever I go, which I still don’t know, I won’t have what I have here.”
She rejoined the club back in 2012. Her dream was for her father to see her play for the senior women's team; unfortunately, he passed before this happened. At this point, the club had never reached a Champions League final. 14 seasons later and 506 appearances, she is the club record goalscorer with 232 goals and has won 38 trophies. Those honours include 10 league titles and four Champions League crowns, cementing her status as the most influential player in the club’s history.
Only Melanie Serrano has made more appearances for the women’s team, and only Lionel Messi has scored more goals across Barcelona’s men’s and women’s sides combined.
Over the time Putellas has been at the club, the team has evolved from a semi-professional side into a global powerhouse, selling out Camp Nou and playing in front fo 90,000 people.
Barcelona have now reached seven of the last eight Champions League finals, winning four of them.
Teammates and club officials have consistently described Putellas as the “motor” behind that transformation, both on and off the pitch.
La Reina's career has not been without its challenges, most notably her 2022 ACL injury on the eve of the Euros, which meant she missed the tournament completely, where Spain were knocked out in the quarter-finals in extra time against the hosts, England. She returned in April of 2023, when the team clinched their fourth consecutive league title, and returned to international football for the World Cup that summer.
With her announcement official, rumours about where she will go next have intensified. The most strongly linked is London City Lionesses. Which, to me, does not make sense: why go to a club that is finishing sixth in the WSL, has not been in any finals, and is not in the Champions League? It's a considerable step down for a player who is arguably still at her height.
The only real grab I see for her going there is her friend Jana Fernández and the money. But reportedly discussions have been ongoing for several months, and the club are confident a deal could be reached, and the offered terms exceed those available at Barcelona. But one would think she would want more from a club; Chelsea would take her in a heartbeat if they could, and still offer a lot of money.
There is also interest from the NWSL, Mexico and Paris Saint-Germain. Recent changes to NWSL salary cap rules could allow Putellas to earn close to $1m per season in the United States.
Putellas has stressed that no final decision has been made and that she will take time this summer to evaluate her options. Wherever she lands, her departure from Barcelona already represents one of the most significant moments in modern women’s football.
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