<
>

Barcelona's Jordi Alba waiting on overdue new contract - agent

Jordi Alba's agent cannot understand why Barcelona have not offered the defender the new contract they promised was in the works 18 months ago.

Alba, 29, still has two years to run on the terms he signed with Barca in 2015 but he has been waiting for the club to offer him a new deal for over a year now.

Agent Vicente Fores suggested, ironically, that perhaps the club have not been impressed with the left-back's performances.

"Raul Sanllehi [who joined Arsenal as head of football relations earlier this year] was still at the club when they told us not to worry, that they were going to call us to renew," agent Vicente Fores told SPORT.

"But we are still waiting. It's been a year and a half now. We don't understand anything, maybe it's normal for Barca or maybe they're not happy with the performances of a player included in FIFA's XI and who is the defender with the most assists in European football."

Alba, who joined Barca from Valencia in 2012, created 11 goals last season, excelling under new coach Ernesto Valverde and taking advantage of the space created by Neymar's departure.

SPORT report that if Barca don't come up with a renewal offer soon, Premier League clubs Manchester United and Chelsea could tempt Alba to swap Camp Nou for England.

However, speaking recently, Alba expressed a desire to end his career at Barcelona and is unlikely to push for a transfer.

Since Alba last renewed in 2015, Sergi Roberto, Marc-Andre ter-Stegen, Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets and Luis Suarez are among players to have signed new terms.

Earlier this season, the club handed a bumper new deal to Lionel Messi, too, while also agreeing a lifetime contract with Andres Iniesta, only for the midfielder to leave for Japanese side Vissel Kobe this month.

As well as Alba, Barca are also working on fixing a number of other contract issues, with the immediate priority being to pin defender Samuel Umtiti down to a new deal.

The France international, a 2016 signing from Lyon, has a release clause of €60 million which the club are keen to increase.

Busquets, too, is also pushing for another new deal and reports in the Catalan press last week claimed an agreement over new terms is close.