Betting tips / Michael Lintorn / 29 June 2012 / Leave a comment Bet Now View Market

Provided he passes a medical, Jordi Alba, an ever-present for Spain at Euro 2012, will move to Barcelona once Spain's Euro 2012 campaign is over.

Barcelona are close to securing their first signing of the post-Pep Guardiola era after confirming that they have arranged an £11 million deal to bring in Jordi Alba on a five-year deal from Valencia.

The 23-year-old has impressed since emerging as Joan Capdevila's successor at left back for Spain in their final Euro 2012 qualifier. He has started every game at the tournament and been one of the most exciting performers in a side criticised for being boring.

His arrival will resolve what risked becoming a problem position for the (4.3) Champions League favourites. Though Eric Abidal - who missed the close of the campaign following a liver transplant - remains formidable, it is arguably the only area in which they lacked a top-quality player aged 30 or younger.

At £11 million, Alba isn't even an overly expensive acquisition, but they may feel that it is an unnecessary one given that he was with the club as a youngster before being let go in 2005.

He will follow Gerard Pique and Cesc Fabregas in leaving as a teenager then returning at reasonable expense, the consolation in the other two cases being that it had been the player who made the decision to move on.

It is (1.60) that Alba will complete his homecoming with a Euro 2012 winners' medal in his possession, and he is (2.4) to help wrestle the La Liga title back from Real Madrid in Tito Vilanova's first season in charge.

For Spain's third team, Valencia, the summer departure of one of their most highly-rated players will continue a disheartening trend. Last year it was Juan Mata to Chelsea and in 2010 it was David Villa to Barcelona and David Silva to Manchester City.

Remarkably, despite that upheaval, they have achieved three successive third-placed finishes. Maintaining that sequence, however, will be tougher with under-appreciated over-achiever Unai Emery replaced in the dugout by Rafael Benitez disciple Mauricio Pellegrino.