The 2022/2023 season saw FC Barcelona part ways with some of their most iconic players in the form of Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets, and Jordi Alba. While the departure of Busquets forced Barcelona to focus on finding a replacement promptly, the other two departures already felt well covered for the future.
In the case of Jordi Alba in particular, FC Barcelona already had two reliable alternatives in the form of ex-Chelsea veteran Marcos Alonso and Barcelona wonderkid Alejandro Balde, both of whom provided unique kinds of depth to Xavi’s side.
However, an additional helping hand is never an unwelcome surprise. As Spanish outlet SPORT reports, Barcelona youth team player Alex Valle is one of the promising emergences who hopes to prove his worth to Xavi Hernandez and showcase his best strengths during the pre-season tour in the United States of America.
According to the report highlighting the specialties of the player, the 19-year-old left-back is ideologically and technically different from the blitzing, electric player that Barcelona have found Alejandro Balde to be. In the case of Valle, Barcelona possess a fullback who thrives more so in the internal lines with his clever playmaking and undeniable vision.
Originally a pivot in his early days with the club, having spent around a decade within the Barcelona youth ranks, the player’s shift and development as a left-back is something that his earlier coaches believe gives him the edge to be a unique kind of fullback.
Similar to the way Pep Guardiola deployed Oleksandr Zinchenko as an inverted fullback at Manchester City, Alex Valle provides a similar kind of technical uniqueness in his own right. The player is well aware of the competition present within Barcelona’s first team, but he remains determined to showcase his own talents.
Last season saw the 19-year-old leave on loan to FC Andorra as well, but the loan spell did not help the player develop as was hoped. Given that he played a meager estimate of 300 minutes across 7 games in total, he now hopes to find better success with both the first team in pre-season and Barcelona Atletic.
