Alejandro Balde's Future at Barcelona: Manchester United Interested
Barcelona’s overhaul is gathering pace, and now even Alejandro Balde is standing near the exit.
Ronald Araujo has gone. Ferran Torres too. Joao Cancelo is about to walk through the door. And in the middle of that traffic, a homegrown left-back who was once seen as part of the club’s future suddenly looks expendable.
United move to the front of the queue
According to MARCA, Jorge Mendes flew into Barcelona this week carrying offers for both Balde and Marc Casado. The super-agent first sat down with the club’s sporting director, then with the players themselves, laying out what life away from Catalonia could look like.
Casado’s departure has been on the cards for a while. Balde’s? Not so much.
The tone changed when Balde was left out of the squad for the match against Elche. That decision rang louder than any statement. It hinted at something more than simple rotation, and it has now emerged that the full-back has three concrete proposals in front of him.
Manchester United are described as the frontrunners, with two other clubs also pushing for the Spain international. For now, though, those close to the situation insist nothing will be wrapped up immediately. The expectation is that Balde’s future will take a few more days to come into focus.
Cancelo’s shadow and a blocked pathway
The key to all of this is Cancelo.
The Portuguese defender is on the verge of arriving and is widely expected to become Hansi Flick’s first-choice left-back this season. That changes everything for Balde. A position he once seemed to own now looks locked down by a new signing before a ball has even been kicked.
Being omitted against Elche only sharpened the picture. If Cancelo steps straight into the role and Flick leans on his experience, Balde’s route to regular minutes narrows dramatically. The chances of him staying at Barcelona shrink with it, even if the door has not been completely slammed shut.
If Balde does go, Barcelona will have to move again in the market. The replacement might not even be a like-for-like left-back. The club have long weighed up the idea of reinforcing at centre-back, and that option is firmly back on the table.
A new central defender would allow Gerard Martin to slide across to left-back when needed, giving Flick more room to manoeuvre with his back line.
Barcelona are reshaping their squad at speed. The next question is whether that new shape still has room for Alejandro Balde – or whether Old Trafford becomes the stage for his next step.
