Take one step back to be able to take two steps forward. That is the path that Alexia Putellas, captain of Barça and a leading figure in women’s football on a global scale, has chosen to fully recover from recurring knee discomfort that has prevented her from being the player who won the Ballon d’Or twice twice. consecutive. After weighing her options, the Catalan soccer player has decided to undergo arthroscopy to thoroughly examine her left knee, the same one she injured in July 2022. The operation, which requires surgical intervention, will take place today in Barcelona.
The great icon of women’s football in recent years (with permission from Aitana Bonmatí) seeks to return to being the player she was just a year and a half ago, when a torn cruciate ligament in her left knee left her in dry dock for nine long months. They were very hard moments for the soccer player, who received the second award as the best on the planet in the midst of an injury.
The goal of reaching the World Cup in Australia weighed on her recovery plans, and Alexia made an effort to be at the event, in which the team coached by Jorge Vilda was proclaimed world champion. During that championship, a logical lack of rhythm was evident, but the knee responded well then and also did so in the following preseason. However, with the season already started, on November 14, during the Champions League match against Benfica, Alexia suffered a blow to her knee that changed everything. The midfielder had scored two goals in the first half, but at half-time she had to be substituted. Since then he has trained independently of his teammates and was also unable to attend Montse Tomé’s call with the Spanish team.
A month and a half after what happened against Benfica, the discomfort has not subsided. Therefore, advised by Barça’s medical services, the player has decided to undergo surgery again. Although the various tests and scans carried out both at Barça and in the national team have ruled out a serious injury, she has opted for a simple arthroscopy to thoroughly examine the knee. It is an intervention without any type of complication and without anything structural. The player’s goal is to feel 100% again as soon as possible.
Before suffering these discomforts, the 29-year-old from Mollet del Vallès had played eight games with Barça this season – seven in the F League and one in the Champions League – in which she had scored four goals. Her performance was going up and she had already sat down with the club to design her new contract, since she ends her relationship with Barça next June. These conversations ended with an offer from the entity that would exceed one million euros and would substantially increase the conditions of the footballer, who did not obtain any improvement despite her high level in recent years. Putellas has always made every effort available to the club and has shown itself willing to renew, but the truth is that there are many interested clubs, both from England and the United States and Mexico.
Next January, Alexia will be free to negotiate her future. And although everything indicates that she will end up accepting the Blaugrana offer, one of the National Women’s Soccer (NSWL) teams, Angel City FC of Los Angeles, founded by Natalie Portman and former tennis player Serena Williams, has shown great interest in hiring her. .
Despite this, Putellas seems to be more interested in the sporting factor of playing in Europe. We must not forget that the footballer’s greatest income comes from advertising contracts due to his media attention. She is the image of Nike, with which she has been linked since 2013, also of Visa, Cupra and the watch brand Hublot, among others, and has more than three million followers on Instagram. In fact, Forbes magazine states that in this area she could pocket around 2.9 million euros, almost triple what her new signing at Barcelona would be after his expected renewal.