Alexia Putellas

Youth career

Sabadell, 2001–05

When she was seven, Putellas began playing for Sabadell, being enrolled through a family friend who played for the club; the team would not accept players younger than eight, with Putellas' family initially lying about her age so she could join. It is here she first played with future Barcelona teammates Vicky Losada and Marta Corredera. Despite being several years younger than some of her Sabadell teammates, Putellas was made one of the team captains. She was smaller and weaker than other players, and could not shoot from distance, things which frustrated her. Sports media wrote that Putellas found success at this age due to her ability to find "space where there is none" even as a child. Sabadell was the only nearby club that had a women's section but, though the women's team flourished during the period Putellas was with them and the staff of the girls' team pushed to develop, the girls' team was not a priority. It was difficult for Putellas and her family to manage her training there as a child, but by 2004 she was playing football religiously.

Barcelona, 2005–06

In 2005, Putellas spent a year in a Barcelona girls' youth team as part of La Masia. With the team, Putellas won the youth editions of the 2005 Copa Catalunya and the league. Joining Barcelona was her dream, but she had to leave when the women's system was restructured and there was no team for her age group; Xavi Llorens, who became manager in 2006,…

Catalonia

Putellas was involved in the autonomous Catalan youth teams from the age of ten. She played with the age group teams from under-12 to under-18, and with Catalonia was champion of Spain in the youth competitions. With the under-12 seven-a-side team, she took part in the Spanish Championship contested by teams from the autonomous communities in December 2007. In 2007 and 2008, Putellas was part of the Catalonia under-14 teams that won their Spanish Championship. In the second phase of the Championship for the under-15 team in 2009, Putellas scored Catalonia's only goal in their first game against Euskadi, and Catalonia's second goal in the second game; this team became the under-16 squad for their next matches, with Putellas part of the squad who took second place in 2009. She was also part of the team that won the under-16 Spanish Championship in 2010. Putellas again scored for the under-16 team in 2010, giving Catalonia the equaliser in their second phase match against the Balearic Islands. In 2016, Putellas played with the Catalan senior national team in a friendly against Galicia. She said that whenever possible she would play for Catalonia, as she had good memories winning with the youth teams. The Catalan team often use the same international window as the Spain team, with Putellas unable to join Catalonia to play Chile in 2019 due to being called up for Spain.

Spain

2009–13: Youth success

Putellas began playing for Spanish youth…

Having been a left-sided forward winger with playmaking ability in her youth career, the predominantly left-footed Putellas is best known as a left-sided 'number 8' central or attacking midfielder for both Barcelona and Spain. For Spain, she has also been played as a lone 'number 10'. She has been described as the perfect "Barcelona midfielder", with the vision, passing ability, and passing accuracy that resembles her male counterparts of Barcelona's successful Guardiola era; her technique has been compared to that of male Barcelona footballers Xavi, Sergio Busquets, and particularly Andrés Iniesta, all of whom she has said inspire her game, as well as Real Madrid's Luka Modrić. GOAL has described her as "technically superb", creative, and decisive. Alongside her technical ability, she is hailed for her leadership capabilities and overall fitness. Normally situated in the central midfield of the set-up, Putellas is one of the main contributors to Barcelona's attack, with the ability to play as an attacking midfielder and a second striker. Putellas regularly finishes each season as one of Barcelona's top contributors in terms of both goals and assists. In the 2018–19 season she was the club's highest scorer in all competitions, and in the 2020–21 and 2021–22 seasons, she was Europe's highest-scoring midfielder. Her statistics around attacking play reflect those of a centre forward, and she is most typically positioned in the opposition half as the furthest-forward midfielder,…

Alèxia Putellas i Segura was born on 4 February 1994, to Jaume Putellas Rota and Elisabet "Eli" Segura Sabaté in Mollet del Vallès, a municipality in the province of Barcelona. She has a younger sister, Alba. Putellas has been a supporter of FC Barcelona since her early childhood and would travel with the penya of Mollet del Vallès to watch matches at the Camp Nou with her father. She would also watch Barcelona matches at a local bar, La Bolera, with her family; she has said that her family have always been fanatic supporters of the club, with the exception of a cousin who supports Real Madrid. As of 2021, Putellas was still a member of the Mollet penya. In her youth, Putellas idolised male footballers Andrés Iniesta, Rivaldo, and Ronaldinho, who all played for Barcelona, as well as female footballer Louisa Nécib, who played for Olympique Lyonnais. Iniesta has returned the idolatry, calling Putellas a role model and saying she encapsulates the values of FC Barcelona. Born into a basketball-playing family, Putellas took part in basketball as well as roller hockey, tennis, and folk dance, as a child. She began playing football at school, and attended football camps run by Xavi for two summers, before joining a club in 2001 at seven years old. Her mother allowed her to join a football team on the condition she stop playing at school, though she continued. Putellas interpreted her mother's request as a reflection of machismo, specifically prejudice towards girls playing…