Alejandro Balde’s Struggles at Barcelona: A Growing Concern for Manchester United
Alejandro Balde’s Barcelona exile is growing more conspicuous by the game – and the situation will not have gone unnoticed at Manchester United.
The 22-year-old, strongly linked with a loan move to Old Trafford late in the summer window, did not play a single minute in Barcelona’s 5-1 demolition of Feyenoord as they opened their Champions League campaign. He did not even get close. Hansi Flick left him on the bench again, preferring Joao Cancelo – a right-back by trade and former Manchester City defender – to start on the left.
That decision was no one-off. Since United’s attempt to prise Balde away on loan, Flick has not used him at all. Not in the league. Not in Europe. Not in any competition. Balde has warmed the bench every time, a clear sign of how far his stock has fallen in the eyes of the new Barcelona boss.
Flick lays down the law
Flick has already gone public with his demands. He wants more from Balde. More edge. More application. More fight.
Before the transfer window closed, Balde was not even in the matchday squad for Barcelona’s opening La Liga win over Elche. Flick later explained that call in blunt terms.
“No, I'm not asking him to leave,” he said when quizzed on the defender’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.”
Balde has since been reintegrated into the squad list, but that is where the progress stops. His role has been reduced to that of spectator, watching Cancelo and others fill the position that was once his.
For a player United seriously considered as cover – and competition – at left-back, it is a sharp and sudden stall.
United’s left-back tightrope
On the other side of Europe, the need that drove United’s interest has not gone away.
Michael Carrick heads into the Champions League clash with Sabah knowing Luke Shaw is his only senior specialist left-back. The margin for error is thin. One injury, one setback, and the whole defensive plan starts to creak.
If Shaw is sidelined, Carrick will be forced into a reshuffle. Lisandro Martinez could be pushed out to left-back. Noussair Mazraoui or Diogo Dalot might be flipped to the opposite flank. None of those options are ideal; all of them weaken another area to plug a gap.
That scenario may be tested sooner than United would like. Shaw missed training on the eve of the Sabah tie at Old Trafford, immediately raising alarms about his availability.
Carrick moved to calm the noise, but his explanation still hinted at the careful management required.
“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, United insist there is no wider concern. Shaw is being protected, not wrapped in red tape. But this is exactly the kind of tightrope that had the club scanning the market for a player like Balde in the first place.
A situation to watch
So the picture is clear. At Barcelona, a highly rated young left-back sits unused, urged by his manager to show greater commitment and fight for his place. At United, the only established left-back is being carefully nursed through a demanding schedule.
The transfer window is shut. The questions are not.
If Balde continues to gather splinters on the Barcelona bench and United’s left side remains one injury from a defensive reshuffle, how long before those links between Old Trafford and the Camp Nou spark back into life?
