Alejandro Balde's Struggle at Barcelona: From Starter to Third Choice
Alejandro Balde is in every photo that matters at Barcelona right now – the walk into the stadium, the warm-up rondos, the pre-match huddle. Then the whistle goes, and he disappears.
Hansi Flick keeps naming the 21-year-old in his matchday squads. He just doesn’t use him. For a player once billed as the future of Barça’s left flank, that silence on the teamsheet is starting to make a lot of noise in the winter market.
From cornerstone to third choice
Inside the club, Balde still holds status. He is not an outcast, not a forgotten academy experiment. His contract runs until 2028, protected by a symbolic one-billion-euro release clause that screams “untouchable” even if the real market values him closer to 40 million.
Yet on the pitch, Flick’s choices tell a very different story.
The German coach has leaned on Xavi Espart and Joao Cancelo when it comes to the left side of his defence. Balde, once a guaranteed starter when fit, now finds himself as the third option in his own position. For a player of his age, in his stage of development, that is a dangerous place to be: too good to ignore, not trusted enough to play.
That tension has put his name in bold on the agendas of Europe’s biggest clubs.
Europe starts to circle
Sport reported that Manchester United and Inter Milan both pushed for Balde in the summer. Those moves never materialised, blocked by Barcelona’s belief in his long-term potential and the sheer size of his release clause.
But football moves quickly. A few months of limited minutes, a new coach with new ideas, and the situation looks far more fluid.
Now Liverpool have entered the conversation.
The Premier League side, guided by Spanish coach Andoni Iraola, view Balde as an intriguing opportunity if the numbers fall into the right bracket. Not a desperation signing, not a vanity purchase – a calculated move for a profile that fits the league and the club’s style.
Iraola’s interest is simple: Balde brings pace, aggression and the kind of vertical, line-breaking runs that stretch English defences. If the door opens, Liverpool want to be standing in the frame.
A quiet link, a loud example
The relationship between Barcelona and Liverpool has rarely been described as easy over the past decade, but the current climate is different. The recent loan of Ronald Araujo to Anfield underlined that. Negotiations were swift, the tone was cordial, and the impact has been immediate.
Araujo has already stamped his authority on English football, especially in the Champions League. His standout display against Atletico Madrid – capped by a decisive back-heel assist – served as a reminder of the quality Barcelona still produce, even when they let players go on temporary deals.
That move has done more than strengthen Liverpool’s defence. It has laid down a pathway. If another Barça player needs a new stage, Anfield now feels like a viable destination rather than a political minefield.
Balde is watching all of this. So is his agent, Jorge Mendes.
January decisions
For the moment, Balde’s reality is brutally simple. Train hard. Stay ready. Wait for Flick.
He can only throw everything into the sessions at Ciutat Esportiva and hope the coach’s rotation, injuries or a tactical rethink open the door again. Until that happens, his career sits in a holding pattern, and January creeps closer.
The winter window changes conversations. A player who is “non-transferable” in August can suddenly become “available under the right conditions” in January, especially at a club constantly juggling sporting needs and financial pressures.
The Premier League, with its pace and physicality, looks tailor-made for Balde’s characteristics. Space to attack. Transitions to exploit. A league that rewards full-backs who play like wingers when the moment comes.
Mendes will not ignore that. His job now is to test the market, to see whether Barcelona’s faith matches their use of the player, and to find out which club is willing to hand Balde what he no longer has at Camp Nou: a clear, undisputed role.
If Flick keeps writing his name on the squad list but not on the teamsheet, the answer to that question may not come in Catalonia. It may come from England.
