Alejandro Balde's Future: A Shift from Barcelona to Manchester United?

Alejandro Balde’s Manchester United link has taken on a new twist, not in Manchester, but on the Barcelona bench.

The 22-year-old, once a serious loan target for United late in the summer window, watched from the sidelines as Barcelona tore Feyenoord apart 5-1 in their Champions League opener. He never left his seat. Not for a warm-up. Not for a late cameo. Nothing.

Instead, Hansi Flick turned to Joao Cancelo. A right-back by trade. A former Manchester City man. And on this night, Barcelona’s left-back of choice.

That decision was no one-off. Since United’s attempt to bring Balde to Old Trafford, Flick has not used the Spain international at all. Not a single competitive minute. Balde has been named among the substitutes in every game across all competitions, but his role has been purely decorative. For a player once seen as a pillar of Barcelona’s future, it is a stark demotion.

Flick has been open about the situation. He wants more from Balde. More edge. More drive. More commitment.

Before the transfer window closed, the Barcelona head coach left him out of the match-day squad entirely for the opening La Liga win over Elche. He later explained that call in blunt, human terms.

“No, I'm not asking him to leave,” Flick said when pressed on Balde’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 only on paper. Flick has kept him on ice, preferring Cancelo out of position rather than trusting his natural left-back. For rival clubs and restless agents, that sort of pattern does not go unnoticed.

In Manchester, the picture at left-back is very different – and far more fragile.

Michael Carrick goes into United’s Champions League clash with Sabah with Luke Shaw as his only established senior left-back. Behind him, there is no specialist cover. If Shaw were to suffer an injury, Carrick would be forced into compromises.

• Lisandro Martinez could be shunted out wide, stripping United of their left-footed anchor at centre-back.
• Alternatively, one of Noussair Mazraoui or Diogo Dalot might be flipped to the opposite flank, a patchwork solution that would unbalance the back line and blunt United’s build-up on one side.

Carrick may get a glimpse of that uncomfortable future sooner than he’d like.

Shaw did not train on the eve of the Sabah tie at Old Trafford. No boots on the grass. No involvement with the main group. Carrick moved quickly to play down any sense of alarm, hinting at rotation with the Manchester Derby looming at the weekend.

“We just gave him an extra recovery day today. We'll see by tomorrow how he is,” Carrick 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.”

On the surface, it sounds routine. Inside a dressing room, players and staff know how quickly a “recovery day” can become a problem if the body doesn’t respond.

For United’s recruitment team, the contrast is glaring. At Barcelona, a young, high-ceiling left-back is stuck behind a converted right-back and a manager demanding more bite. At Old Trafford, the club is one Shaw setback away from a defensive reshuffle that weakens two positions at once.

United explored a loan for Balde in the summer and walked away empty-handed. Since then, his stock on the pitch has dipped, but his profile as a potential solution to a clear squad issue has not. If Flick continues to overlook him, the question writes itself: how long before Barcelona’s unused asset becomes Manchester United’s opportunity?