{"id":62836,"date":"2026-07-29T23:29:30","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T23:29:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/62836\/"},"modified":"2026-07-29T23:29:30","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T23:29:30","slug":"balde-backs-adeyemi-to-make-instant-impact-at-barcelona-impressed-by-just-how-quick-he-is","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/62836\/","title":{"rendered":"Balde backs Adeyemi to make instant impact at Barcelona: &#8216;Impressed by just how quick he is&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Barcelona have had a very decent summer transfer window so far, completing deals for both Anthony Gordon and Karim Adeyemi.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While the chase for a new number nine continues to be elusive, especially with Bar\u00e7a\u2019s preferred target, Julian Alvarez, seeming unrealistic, the club are continuing to look at alternatives.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of the club\u2019s current players, Alejandro Balde, has been around to <a href=\"https:\/\/barcauniversal.com\/confirmed-barcelona-announce-second-signing-of-the-summer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">welcome Adeyemi<\/a> to Barcelona training, with the former getting a break this summer after not getting a World Cup call.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Balde believes new signing Adeyemi has all the qualities to become an important player for Barcelona, with the left-back praising the German\u2019s pace after getting to know him during pre-season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Speaking in a Q&amp;A on the club\u2019s official YouTube channel, as quoted by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mundodeportivo.com\/futbol\/fc-barcelona\/20260729\/1004211338\/balde-seguro-adeyemi-ayudara.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Mundo Deportivo<\/a>, Balde discussed Adeyemi\u2019s arrival, his own goals for the new campaign and some of his favourite memories in a Blaugrana shirt.<\/p>\n<p>Balde impressed by Adeyemi\u2019s pace<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Although Adeyemi has only recently joined the squad, Balde revealed the pair have already built a good relationship.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/HN_UdNmW8AAds9Q-1920x1080-1-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"Karin Adeyemi, Barcelona player\" class=\"wp-image-206857\"  \/>Karin Adeyemi joined Barcelona from Borussia Dortmund. (Picture credit: X\/@FCBarcelona)<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHe\u2019s only been here a short time, but we\u2019ve spoken quite a lot. I think we\u2019ve built a good relationship. He seems like a calm guy,\u201d Balde said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Barcelona defender is confident the German international will make a positive contribution over the course of the season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI hope he can help us a lot during the season, and I\u2019m sure he will. He\u2019s very fast. He\u2019s a player I\u2019ve known about for a long time, and I\u2019ve been impressed by just how quick he is,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n<p>Eyes on more silverware<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Balde also outlined his personal ambitions for the season, stressing that he still has plenty of room to improve despite already being an established first-team player.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOn an individual level, I want to keep improving and keep learning. I\u2019m still a very young player, and I have a lot of room to improve. Those are my main goals,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Looking at the team\u2019s objectives, Balde made it clear Barcelona want to build on last season\u2019s success.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAs a team, we want to continue on the path we\u2019re on, or even do better,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf we can win more trophies, even better.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Fond memories and dressing room bonds<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Balde also reflected on some of the defining moments of his Barcelona career.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"714\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/fc-barcelona-v-rcd-espanyol-de-barcelona-laliga-ea-sports-1-1024x714.jpg\" alt=\"Alejandro Balde of FC Barcelona\" class=\"wp-image-199514\"  \/>A crucial season ahead for Balde. (Photo by David Ramos\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He picked the dramatic Clasico victory under Xavi Hernandez, when Franck Kessie scored the winner, as the match he has enjoyed the most.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe won it at the last minute, and I was able to provide the assist for Kessie,\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Asked about his favourite goal, Balde chose his strike against Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup final.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Away from the pitch, the defender highlighted his close friendship with Raphinha.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHe\u2019s very close to the younger players,\u201d Balde said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He also named Marc Casado, Lamine Yamal, Hector Fort, Gavi, Roony Bardghji and Ronald Araujo among his closest friends in the dressing room.<\/p>\n<p>A huge season for the Barcelona left-back<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Balde has been in the first-team picture for quite some time now, and the Spaniard has been good without ever becoming excellent.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The upcoming season is very important for Balde\u2019s improvement. He needs to take his game a step forward and improve in the facets he is currently lacking.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In Balde, Bar\u00e7a have one of the most talented young left-backs in the sport, but he needs to explode like Nuno Mendes has in the last couple of seasons.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hansi Flick would love to see an improved version of Balde next season, and it remains to be seen how the Spaniard develops.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Barcelona have had a very decent summer transfer window so far, completing deals for both Anthony Gordon and&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":62837,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[933,92,222,223,22504],"class_list":["post-62836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-barcelona","tag-alejandro-balde","tag-barcelona","tag-barcelona-news","tag-fc-barcelona","tag-karim-adeyemi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62836","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62836"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62836\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}