Young Barcelona defender Alejandro Balde could leave the team on loan in search of more minutes next season, says Spanish media outlet Diario SPORT.
Balde, 18, made his first-team debut in September 2021 in a 0-3 loss to Bayern Munich in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League.
With defensive reinforcement arriving for the next campaign, the 18-year-old might as well struggle to get minutes and for that, there are high chances of him moving away on loan for the rest of the 2022/23 football season.
Balde, who extended his contract until 2024 last year, is one of the youngsters who has managed to impress Xavi. In fact, speaking after the 0-0 draw against Getafe in the penultimate game of the season, the manager expressed how much he liked the youngster’s performance.
“I am very happy for Bald and Mika Marmol. They have a bright future ahead,” said the manager.
“Alejandro Baldé was great today. He was good in the attack and showed his character,” he further added.
Interestingly enough, Balde attracted interest from Ajax back in January when Barcelona were chasing a certain Nicolas Tagliafico. It was reported that Barcelona were prepared to offer the 18-year-old as part of the deal, but the youngster was never interested in leaving.
Born in Catalonia, Balde joined Barcelona in 2011 at the tender age of eight. It was in July last year that signed a new deal which took his release clause to a whopping €500 million.
The youngster has mostly featured for Barça B this season, appearing in 15 games while clocking an impressive 1,153 minutes. Seeing his progression, he was called up to the Champions League squad where he made two appearances.
As far as La Liga is concerned, he made five appearances while playing a total of 187 minutes
