Alexia Putellas has not been home since early June. By the time she walks into The New York Times office in Manhattan, more than a month has passed in a blur of airports, hotel rooms and timezones. It’s her last stop before returning home.“I am really tired,” the former Barcelona midfielder says as she takes her seat in a corner room overlooking the edge of Times Square.Plenty has transpired in the 32-year-old’s life this summer — including emotions that she still needs to digest.In May, Putellas won her fourth Champions League title. A few days later, she said goodbye to the club she had spent the last 14 seasons growing. At the time, her next step in soccer was still unknown.She traveled to Venezuela, where devastating earthquakes struck while she was working events for her Eleven Foundation and the Liga Monumental. She then made her way to the U.S. for, among other things, a chance to watch Spain’s men’s at World Cup in Los Angeles. The day before we talk, she was at the W Hotel in Union Square alongside multi-club owner Michele Kang for her official unveiling as a London City Lionesses player.Alexia Putellas spent 14 years at Barcelona before saying goodbye to the team at the end of last season. (Shuran Huang / The Athletic)The two-time Ballon d’Or winner looks different from her farewell event at Camp Nou two months ago, when she was surrounded by the 38 trophies she helped win. Not physically, but in the way she carries herself. She smiles easily. There is a quietness about her that feels tranquil. She looks like someone who has closed one chapter and is ready to embrace the next.“I am at peace because I’ve chosen the best moment to leave something that any of us would never leave,” she says. “I understood that the option to continue was blurring everything that had happened before.”As New York carries on outside the windows, her calm stands in stark contrast to the car horns and chaos of 8th Avenue as she reflects on leaving Barcelona, starting over in England and why, after everything she has achieved, she still believes the most meaningful challenges lie ahead.“It’s not about appearances; it’s about me,” she says. “I value having accepted that there is an end, and not having had that ego that says, ‘No, there’s no end for you.’“Knowing how to make choices, believing that I’ve chosen the best option to be happy and find new challenges, new motivations,” is what motivates Putellas into her next chapter.London City announced the signing of two-time Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas in New York. (Shuran Huang / The Athletic)“When you’re nearing the end of your career — though I don’t know when that will be, because I’d like to play until I’m 37 or 38 — you need to find new dreams and motivations, and discover something you haven’t done yet. I’m calm, at peace, and mentally prepared. I’m confident in what has worked for me in my career, and I enjoy doing it — which is the most important thing.”Putellas is a competitive force and has lived and breathed football for as long as she can remember — an obsession that has driven her in everything she has done.However, at the peak of her career in 2022, after winning her first Ballon d’Or, an anterior cruciate ligament injury ruled her out of the European Championship. The injury forced her to slow down and had further impact.“My mentality changed. You never know what’s going to happen, so you have to enjoy every moment, every game, you don’t know when it will be the last one,” she says. “Since then, I’ve been living, enjoying everything as it was the last.