After a spectacular showing last time, the FC Barcelona backline is not having a season to remember. Despite the additions of Joao Cancelo and Inigo Martinez over the summer, Xavi’s men have not been as good at keeping the ball away from their goal as they were last year.
Almost all the players in the club’s defence are struggling for form, but the player who seems to have declined the most is the left-back Alejandro Balde. He broke out into the Barcelona first team last season and was able to lay a permanent claim on the left-back position, sending Jordi Alba out of the club in the process.
His performances last season were so good that some of the biggest clubs in Europe were interested in getting him, and Barcelona had to put in a release clause of €1 billion in his new contract last year to keep him firmly associated with the club.
The fullback was particularly in high demand in the Premier League. According to SPORT, the current Premier League champions, Manchester City, were highly interested in the player, but now, their interest has cooled down completely.
Earlier, City had Balde in their sights to make him a cornerstone of the next project, but they will not bid for him anymore, even though Barcelona was considering him as an option to part with in order to get Joao Cancelo on a permanent basis.
As things stand, Manchester City are not going to entertain any offer of a player swap, and are going to ask for a significant amount of money for the Portuguese fullback.
However, Chelsea can still make a move for the out-of-form Balde, in the coming months. Meanwhile, Barcelona will have to sell one of their players to ensure financial stability, and the coming weeks and months are going to be highly uncertain for the Catalan club.
