The competition within FC Barcelona must be severe next season for that to be the case externally as well. La Blaugrana were hardly satisfied with the conclusion of last season and they do not want a repeat of that. Instead, Barcelona will aim for much better depth and quality this season.
Ideally, the aim would be to reinforce every single position with at least two quality players. However, given their limited budget, Barcelona must work with the resources that they have. Signings such as Nico Williams and Dani Olmo are in the works, but other priorities exist as well.
One such priority is improving the depth of the left-back position. Last season, Alejandro Balde’s injury created a lot of problems in that specific role, with fullbacks such as Joao Cancelo and Hector Fort having to sacrifice their preferred flank on the right side to cover for Balde’s absence.
This time, however, Barça seem to have found a promising solution in 20-year-old Alex Valle. According to SPORT, the La Masia talent has been impressive under Hansi Flick so far and he shows a lot of promise for next season. With Balde also being close to a full recovery, the duo could be a competitive option there.
However, there are some problems and complications with Valle’s case. The most prominent one is his contract, as it is one that must be renewed before the beginning of August for the player’s release clause to improve, or else it will fall from €8 million directly down to €3 million.
To renew him, however, Barcelona will need to grant him a first-team contract. This deal would understandably entail giving him a higher salary as well, and Barça would need to maneuver their way around an already tight financial fair play space to leave adequate salary space for other operations.
Secondly, this would mean relying on two players from La Masia as the only options in the left-back role. While it does not inherently seem like a bad option, it does show a lack of experience in that role given that both fullbacks are youngsters without a lot of experience.
However, it is also true that both players have gained a lot of experience lately. Balde is already a first-team regular for Barcelona, while Valle learned and matured a lot as per the report due to his time on loan last season at Levante in La Liga Hypermotion.
At the moment, they seem like the likely options to contend for that role next season. Another case, the one regarding Joao Cancelo, is still to be sorted. In the event that the Portuguese star returns to Barça, the club can at least count on a more experienced fullback as well from time to time.
