Alex Valle was one of the surprise names included in the squad list of the pre-season tour of FC Barcelona to the USA. He accompanied other Blaugrana starlets, including Fermin Lopez, Marc Casado, Aleix Garrido, Lamine Yamal, Astralaga, and Mikail Faye, for this tour.
Alex Valle spent the second half of the last season on loan at the second-division side, Andorra. During this loan stint, he made seven appearances for the Andorra-based side. Prior to that, the player was an important component of Rafa Marquez’s Barca Athletic squad.
The youngster is set to leave on loan again for the upcoming season, this time joining the La Liga 2 side, Levante. Details about his loan move have been provided by the journalist Albert Roge, who claims that his loan contract would not have a buy option included in it.
This lack of a purchase option is indicative of the trust that Xavi has in the youngster. Roge’s report also claims that Xavi wants the player to get significant minutes in the second division, which would help him grow and develop in a situation of minimal pressure and expectations.
Xavi also wants the player to compete with Alejandro Balde when he returns to FC Barcelona next season. However, Valle will have to grow a lot as a player in this season at Levante, in order to get a significant role at a club as big as FC Barcelona.
Still, there is wisdom in Xavi’s planning on Valle to be one of the competitors for Balde in the coming years. Currently, Balde’s back-up in the squad is Marcos Alonso, who is not a natural left-back and does not contribute as much to the attack as Barcelona fullbacks are expected to do.
Thus, Valle, if his development goes in the right direction, can be a low-cost and effective option to be Balde’s back-up in the future.
