Barcelona Transfer News: Jordi Alba Not Enough to Catch Real Madrid

Barcelona made a big step in the right direction by adding left back Jordi Alba, but this will not be enough to catch Real Madrid in La Liga.

ESPN's Dale Johnson reports that the club signed the youngster from Valencia for €14 million on a five-year contract.

This is a great addition to the team to improve a position of weakness going into next season. Alba plays outstanding defense but can attack with the rest of the team.

During Euro 2012, he played with Spain as the team dominated the competition en route to the country's third straight major title. The 23-year-old scored a key goal in the finals of the tournament against Italy.

Unfortunately, it takes a lot to compete with Real Madrid.

Barcelona and Real Madrid are easily the two best teams in the league. The third place team was 30 points away from reaching the rivals at the top. However, second place is not good enough for this proud organization.

If the Catalans want to win more trophies, they need to improve on the offensive end as well as on defense. The team already led the league in goals allowed with 29, but they could be unstoppable with an improvement on offense.

The team does already have arguably the best striker in the world in Lionel Messi. In addition, they have great forwards in David Villa and Cesc Fabregas, plus a bunch of talented midfielders that can create opportunities.

However, one option to improve the club would be to add Dutch striker Robin van Persie. The Arsenal forward has made himself available after announcing that he would not return to the team next season.

Mirror football reports that Barca might be interested in acquiring the scorer, but it requires selling David Villa. If the team could afford this transaction, they should do it in a heartbeat.

The club is apparently also still looking at Didier Drogba, another world-class striker that would make the team scary to defend.

Barcelona has formed a quality team heading into this season, but they still should do more if they want to take home trophies.

Follow @rgoldberg86