Alejandro Balde's Struggles at Barcelona Amid Manchester United Interest

Alejandro Balde’s name was all over Manchester United’s summer shortlist. Now, he can’t get on the pitch for Barcelona.

The 22-year-old left-back, once a serious loan target for United, watched from the bench as Barcelona tore Feyenoord apart 5-1 in their Champions League opener. Hansi Flick didn’t just leave him out of the starting XI – he sent a message with his selection.

Joao Cancelo, a right-back by trade and a former Manchester City man, started on the left instead. Balde, a natural in that role and once tipped as a long-term cornerstone at the Camp Nou, never moved from his seat. That has been the story of his season so far.

Since United’s failed attempt to take him on loan late in the transfer window, Flick has not used Balde for a single minute in any competition. He has made every bench, but that’s where his involvement has ended. For a player of his profile, that is a brutal demotion.

Flick has been blunt about why. He wants more.

The Barcelona coach recently challenged Balde in public, demanding greater commitment and making it clear the youngster must fight his way back into contention. The tension first surfaced on the opening weekend of La Liga, when Balde did not even make the match-day squad for the win over Elche.

Asked then if he was pushing Balde towards the exit, Flick was adamant that was not the case.

“No, I'm not asking him to leave,” he said. “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, but only on paper. Flick has kept him on ice, preferring to improvise at left-back rather than trust the Spain international. For clubs monitoring his situation – and United will be among them – the pattern is impossible to ignore.

The contrast with Old Trafford is striking.

Michael Carrick goes into United’s Champions League clash with Sabah with just one established senior left-back: Luke Shaw. Behind him lies a patchwork of emergency solutions rather than genuine depth.

If Shaw suffers an injury, Carrick would likely have to shuffle his defence. Lisandro Martinez could be dragged out to left-back, weakening United at centre-half. Alternatively, one of Noussair Mazraoui or Diogo Dalot would be asked to flip flanks and fill in on the wrong side. None of those options screams long-term plan.

That fragility might be exposed sooner than expected. Shaw did not take part in the final training session before the Sabah tie at Old Trafford. Carrick moved quickly to play down any alarm, framing it as simple load management ahead of this weekend’s Manchester Derby.

“We just gave him an extra recovery day today. We'll see by tomorrow how he is,” the United manager explained. “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 Shaw is being protected, not patched up. But the scenario underlines a broader issue: they are one setback away from a defensive reshuffle that Carrick would rather avoid.

And in Barcelona, a 22-year-old international left-back sits and waits, out of favour, out of rhythm, and very possibly back on the radar of a club that still hasn’t solved the very problem he was meant to ease.