Alexia Putellas has announced that she will leave Barcelona at the end of the current season, closing a 14-year chapter with the club where she became one of the most important figures in its history. The 32-year-old midfielder said she will seek a new personal and professional challenge next season outside Spain, ending a long and decorated spell with the team she joined as a child. In her farewell message, Putellas stressed that she leaves without sadness, describing the move as the end of one stage rather than a painful goodbye. She said she was born a Barcelona supporter and will always remain one, even as her career moves in a different direction.
Putellas’ journey with Barcelona has been marked by resilience, loyalty and extraordinary success. She first came through the club’s youth system after beginning to play in her hometown of Mollet del Vallès and later spending time at Sabadell. When Barcelona’s restructuring left her without a team, she played for Espanyol, where she made her top-flight debut, and then for Levante before returning to Barcelona in the summer of 2012. That return, she said, came after one of the hardest moments in her life, following the death of her father shortly before she rejoined the club. In her goodbye video, she recalled how her father had dreamed of seeing her defend Barcelona’s colors with the first team, and said the club helped save her during that painful period.
Over the course of her career at Barcelona, Putellas played 512 matches, including 507 official appearances, making her the second-most-capped player in the club’s history behind Melanie Serrano. She also scored 234 goals, becoming Barcelona’s all-time leading scorer. Across those years, she helped the team win 10 league titles, 9 Queen’s Cups, 6 Spanish Super Cups, 4 Champions League trophies and 6 Catalan Cups. She was also the first player to score at the Johan Cruyff Stadium and the first to score in an official match at the Camp Nou both before and after its renovation. Her individual honors include back-to-back Ballon d’Or awards in 2021 and 2022, along with major Spanish sporting awards and distinctions.
Putellas said she is proud of how far Barcelona’s women’s team has come during her era, noting that the squad has taken the club farther than many once imagined. She thanked both the pioneers who helped build the project and the younger players who will carry it forward. Her departure comes at a defining moment for the club, just after winning the Champions League and on the eve of a league match against Real Sociedad that had been expected to be celebratory. Instead, the announcement has added emotion and reflection to the closing weeks of the season. Her exit marks the end of an era for Barcelona women’s football and the beginning of a new chapter for one of the sport’s greatest modern players.
