When Montse Tomé announced yesterday the list of the 25 called up for the Final Four of the Nations League, one name resonated above all: that of Alexia Putellas. The Blaugrana midfielder was once again included in a national team list despite not having yet received a medical discharge. The captain of Barça and the national team has been off the pitch since November and in December she underwent an arthroscopy on her knee from which she continues to recover.
As La Vanguardia has learned, Alexia Putellas’ call-up has been very bad for FC Barcelona, ??who understand that the footballer is still out and should have stayed in Barcelona to continue her recovery. From the club they are “disappointed” with the player and affirm that they had agreed with her that she would not be called up. After knowing the list, the feeling in the Blaugrana entity was anger and they consider that it was the footballer herself who motivated her call-up to the national team, despite the fact that she knew, they say, that the club’s will was different.
Something that sources close to the player completely deny to La Vanguardia. They deny that there was an agreement with the club not to attend the national team and maintain that Alexia found out about her call like everyone else, through the networks. They explain that the captain warned the club the day before that “perhaps” they would call her up with Spain and that the sports management, now directed by former Blaugrana Markel Zubizarreta, has been maintaining contact with her in recent months, just like with the rest of the possible summons. They insist that the Spanish Federation “has all the information” about the physical condition of the soccer player. Something that the coach Montse Tomé herself also assured yesterday: “We know that she is in a readaptation process with her club. Our intention is to continue working on its evolution here. We have daily communication. There is nothing hidden, nothing strange and we are not going to do anything crazy,” she stated.
Sources close to the player believe that training with the national team will be more beneficial for the footballer’s recovery given the point at which she is. After having progressively entered into training with the group, next week Alexia faces “a key week” in her recovery, they explain, where she will do “high load, high volume and high intensity” work. According to what they argue to La Vanguardia, during the national team break there will be very few members of the first team to train and fewer training sessions will be held, which is why they see it as “beneficial” for the player to exercise with the national team, where the demands in the training sessions Work will be of the highest level at the gates of a Nations League Final Four.
Another reason why they see it as positive that he attends the national team call is because the fact of feeling important within the group can help him emotionally in his recovery. In fact, Tomé already pointed out yesterday that Alexia “is an important player for the team.” “She is our captain and she has to be in these games,” she said at a press conference.
Be that as it may, the truth is that the discomfort within FC Barcelona is important and they even say that this episode could have consequences on the player’s renewal. A negotiation that has remained on standby since the player was injured and that both parties had agreed not to resume until Alexia was recovered.
In addition to Alexia, the biggest surprise on the list has been the inclusion of Vicky López, the young pearl of FC Barcelona, ??who makes the leap from the under-17s directly to the senior team. There are also significant casualties such as Esther González and Ivana Andrés and expected returns such as Alba Redondo, who had not returned to the national team since the World Cup.
