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Euro 2012 winner Jordi Alba has completed his 14million euro move to Barcelona from Valencia.
The 23-year-old attacking left-back put pen to paper on a five-year contract with Barca this afternoon having passed his medical with the Catalan giants earlier today [Thursday].
The buy-out clause in Alba’s new contract is 90million euros, Barca announced on their website.
Alba, who on Sunday helped Spain retain their European Championship title with a 4-0 final victory over Italy, is Barca’s first signing of the summer as they build towards next season under new coach Tito Vilanova, who has replaced Pep Guardiola.
Alba, whose contract with Valencia was due to expire in June 2013, is no stranger to Barcelona.
Born in the Catalan city of L’Hospitalet, Alba spent seven years at Barca’s famous La Masia youth academy from 1998 to 2005.
Afterwards he played for local lower-league side Cornella for two years before joining Valencia in 2007.
At the Mestalla, Alba was part of the Valencia reserve side that was promoted to Segunda B before spending the 2008/09 season on loan at Gimnastic Tarragona.
On returning to Valencia he soon became a regular in coach Unai Emery’s first team, making 74 league appearances in three seasons, scoring five goals.
That earned him international recognition, with his debut coming against Scotland last October. He has won 11 caps to date and was an ever-present in Spain’s successful Euro 2012 campaign, scoring his side’s second goal in the final against Italy.
via ESPNSTAR.com http://www.espnstar.com/football/news/detail/item824180
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