Carles Aleña criticizes the Barcelona board due to lack of respect over shirt number.
The much-maligned Barcelona board has faced criticism ever since it took over for not following procedures or simply doing things the wrong way. Their latest faux pas involves Carles Aleña and his shirt number in which the club promised Frenkie de Jong the No. 21 without first speaking to Aleña.
According to Diario Sport, he said,
"“I knew that Frenkie wanted the 21 and it was something between me and him. I would have liked a message from the board because they promised him the shirt without warning me. He was humble, he asked me for it and I gave it to him because it was for a sentimental reason.”"
Recall when De Jong was introduced both in front of the media and then the Camp Nou, the former Ajax player was yet to be assigned a number. Days later, Barcelona published on their site a photo of both of them with their new squad numbers stating that Aleña had agreed to cede his number.
Now we come to find out that it more of a forced decision in which, to his credit, Aleña showed maturity in giving away his number without making a fuss at the time.
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He added,
"“I don’t feel good because I’ve always behaved well with the club, we have good communication. They just needed to drop me a message.”"
The Barcelona board cannot seem to make things easier on themselves and flub even the easiest of decisions. Aleña is a player who comes from their academy and one that looks like he was what it takes to make it at the club. He has not complained over his lack of playing time despite the fact that many think he’s good enough to start.
Under Ernesto Valverde, he has not played as much as he would have liked but continued to train hard and fight for minutes. Most other players with his talent would have made a fuss and perhaps demanded a move elsewhere. He is adamant that he wants to stay and will try to earn a spot in the first team.
All Barcelona had to do was give him a message and from what he’s said, he would have handed over his number without a problem. His only issue is that they did not communicate with him at all. Considering the way they’ve handled some of their expensive signings, the last thing they want or need is to have a problem with an academy player who has not complained despite having plenty of reasons to do so.