Alejandro Balde's future has moved from settled to open. The Barcelona left-back has made only three league appearances this season, all from the substitutes bench, and a bid in the region of €40 million (£33m) is said to be enough to get a deal done when the January window opens.

Balde's fall in minutes

Balde has made 172 appearances in all competitions for Barcelona, so this is not a case of a young player who has barely broken through. It is a reduction in trust. Hansi Flick said Balde “doesn’t have the confidence he needs in his game right now, nor the conviction,” and the numbers around his recent role reflect that line.

He has played just 116 minutes across his last five matches, and all four of his appearances this season have come off the bench. That is a sharp drop for a player who was once treated as a long-term left-side solution.

United's left-back need

The Manchester United link has a clear football reason behind it. United have only one specialist left-back other than academy product Harry Amass, while Luke Shaw has been sidelined for the last month through injury, forcing Diogo Dalot to fill in.

United sit 17th in the Premier League with 7 points from 9 league games, so a move for a left-back is not hard to understand. Balde would not solve everything on his own, but he does fit the sort of urgent fix that clubs in that position tend to chase.

Barcelona's wider left-back plans are also in play, with Andrea Cambiaso linked to the club in the same window. Reports have put his price anywhere from €20 million to €40 million, with Juventus said to want between €30 million and €40 million in some versions of the story.

That leaves Balde in a more awkward place than he was a few months ago. Barcelona are not being pushed into a sale, but they are open to listening if the money is right, and United's need makes the rumours feel more than just noise. The January window will tell whether that opening becomes a transfer.

Written by Daniel Hartley with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 5 outlets. How we work →