Alejandro Balde: From Rising Star to Sidelines at Barcelona

Alejandro Balde is learning how long a season can feel when you never make it to the pitch.

The Barcelona full-back has not played a single minute for the club this campaign. Not one. While the team has rolled into the new era under Hansi Flick, Balde has been left watching from the sidelines, trapped in a limbo that feels more brutal with every squad list.

From untouchable prospect to forgotten option

A year ago, Balde looked like a pillar of Barça’s future. In the 2025-26 season he started the first three La Liga games, logging 222 minutes and confirming his status as a regular. Flick only left him on the bench for the full 90 minutes on five occasions across that entire league campaign.

Now? With September barely underway, he has already spent more full games as an unused option than that. And this time, he is not even close to the coach’s thoughts.

Sport report that Flick has made his choice at left-back: Gerard Martín and João Cancelo. Balde is behind both. That preference has pushed the academy product into what feels like a harsh grey zone – not in the stands permanently, but not part of the real competition either.

The message was loud on day one. For the opening La Liga fixture against Elche, Flick left Balde out of the squad altogether, judging him not focused enough. From there, the pattern has only hardened. Martín and Cancelo rotate and compete. Balde waits.

Transfer window tension, no way out

Barcelona had already tested the market for him in the summer. After a difficult, injury-hit campaign in which he missed 10 matches through physical problems, the club were open to offers and put his name out there.

Manchester United showed interest late in the window. Talks took place, but the two clubs never reached a financial agreement. And on the player’s side, there was no desire to walk away. Balde, tied to Barça until 2028 with a one-billion-euro release clause, did not intend to leave the club he grew up in.

So he stayed. Contract secure, future on paper. Reality, much colder.

Deco backs him – with a warning

Inside the club, the public line is one of calm. Sporting director Deco addressed Balde’s situation on RAC1, insisting there is no internal drama.

“Nothing has happened, he is our player,” Deco said. “He is 22 years old, he has a big future, and a contract with the best club in the world. He has to compete to play.”

The support came with a reminder. Compete or be left behind.

Deco also pointed back to the version of Balde that once lit up the left flank. “Balde suffered injuries, but he was outstanding two years ago. If Balde is in good shape, it is difficult for him not to play with Barcelona.”

Right now, though, the numbers are unforgiving. He has yet to pull on the shirt this season. Among outfield players who are fit, only he and Bryan Fariñas have not featured at all. The two reserve goalkeepers, Ljubičić and Szczęsny, are also still waiting, while Frenkie de Jong and Bardají remain sidelined with long-term injuries.

A crossroads at 22

For a 22-year-old who not long ago looked like Barça’s long-term answer at left-back, this is a jarring reset. The club tried to sell. The player stayed. The coach trusts others.

Balde’s talent is not in doubt inside the institution; Deco made that clear. But trust on the touchline is a different currency, earned week by week, session by session.

The season is young. The calendar will get heavier. Suspensions, fatigue, injuries – they always come. When they do, one question will hang over the Camp Nou: will Alejandro Balde be ready to reclaim the shirt, or will this be the year his Barcelona story truly starts to slip away?