Alejandro Balde's Unused Potential at Barcelona and United's Left-Back Dilemma
Alejandro Balde’s Barcelona stand-off has left an intriguing gap in Manchester United’s plans – and it showed again on Champions League night.
The 22-year-old, who spent the final days of the summer window heavily linked with a loan move to Old Trafford, watched on once more as an unused substitute in Barcelona’s 5-1 demolition of Feyenoord. Hansi Flick went with Joao Cancelo at left-back, a right-back by trade, while a natural left-back in Balde sat idle on the bench.
That choice said plenty.
Flick’s message to Balde
Since United’s attempt to prise Balde away late in the window, his status under Flick has only drifted further into the shadows. He has been named in every matchday squad across all competitions this season, but not once has he stepped onto the pitch. Not a single minute.
Flick has been blunt about why.
The Barcelona head coach has publicly demanded more “commitment” from the defender and made it clear that nothing will be handed to him. Even before the window shut, Balde felt the consequences. He was left out of the squad entirely for Barça’s opening La Liga win over Elche, a decision Flick later explained in starkly personal terms.
“No, I'm not asking him to leave,” Flick said when pressed on the full-back’s future. “This morning I felt there was something wrong. I spoke to him and said: 'At this moment, I have this feeling, and I think it's best for you to clear your mind, sort out your thoughts, and then we'll talk again tomorrow.'
“And he agreed as well. He agreed to it because there are so many things going around in his head, and that's why he's not here.”
The conversation ended with Balde reintegrated into the squad. The trust, though, has not yet returned on the pitch. Cancelo continues to start on his “wrong” side, while Balde’s season remains stuck in neutral.
For a player who could have filled a glaring need at Old Trafford, the contrast is hard to ignore.
United’s left-back tightrope
Back in Manchester, the left-back situation looks one injury away from a problem Michael Carrick can do without.
Luke Shaw is the only established senior left-back at Carrick’s disposal. Behind him, the options are all compromises: Lisandro Martinez shunted wide from centre-back, or one of Noussair Mazraoui or Diogo Dalot flipped to the opposite flank. None of those solutions is ideal in the Premier League, let alone in the Champions League.
Carrick may have to experiment sooner than he would like.
On the eve of United’s European clash with Sabah at Old Trafford, Shaw was conspicuously absent from training. Given the looming Manchester Derby this weekend, the decision looked precautionary, but it still underlined just how thin United are in that position.
Carrick tried to cool any sense of alarm.
“We just gave him an extra recovery day today. We'll see by tomorrow how he is,” the United manager said. “It's not an ongoing thing or a plan or anything like that. It was just off the back of the game the other day. So, as normal, each individual has different little things that we manage.”
For now, that sounds reassuring. Yet the reality is clear: if Shaw does break down, Carrick will be forced into reshuffles that weaken United elsewhere on the pitch.
And all the while, a 22-year-old left-back they tried to sign is watching games from the bench in Barcelona, waiting for his own season to start.
