{"id":74302,"date":"2026-08-22T19:08:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-22T19:08:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/74302\/"},"modified":"2026-08-22T19:08:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-22T19:08:14","slug":"barcelona-defender-still-intends-to-stay-despite-growing-speculation-over-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/74302\/","title":{"rendered":"Barcelona defender still intends to stay despite growing speculation over future"},"content":{"rendered":"

Earlier today, reports emerged suggesting that Alejandro Balde had decided to leave FC Barcelona<\/a> before the transfer window closes.<\/p>\n

The 22-year-old left-back faces competition for a starting berth now that Joao Cancelo has been re-signed permanently.<\/p>\n

Moreover, reports suggest that Bar\u00e7a manager Hansi Flick has some doubts the player<\/a> as well.<\/p>\n

The German\u2019s pointed remark at the La Masia graduate during his press conference earlier today seemed to underline the point, which eventually gave way to rumours of a departure.<\/p>\n

Balde wants to fight<\/p>\n

However, according to Mundo Deportivo<\/a>, Balde is not giving up. <\/p>\n

Despite the events of recent hours, including his agent\u2019s visit to Barcelona and the meeting they held, as well as Flick\u2019s warning during his press conference, the Bar\u00e7a academy graduate still wants to succeed at Barcelona.<\/p>\n

\"AlejandroNot giving up. (Photo by Daniela Porcelli\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The Spanish defender is highly motivated to work toward becoming Bar\u00e7a\u2019s starting left-back. He interpreted Flick\u2019s comments as a challenge rather than a signal that he should leave.<\/p>\n

Flick had said: \u201cIt\u2019s important to know whether a player is convinced so that he can compete for his position.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to sources close to the player, the youngster interpreted the manager\u2019s message as a challenge to fight for his place. <\/p>\n

Balde, therefore, wants to distance himself from reports claiming that he has already decided to leave Bar\u00e7a.<\/p>\n

Open to exit if club tells him to leave<\/p>\n

However, the report further states that if Barcelona tell Balde that he is not part of the club\u2019s plans, he will not object to finding a new destination before the window closes on September 2.<\/p>\n

Until either Flick or the club explicitly tells him that he does not have a place in the team this season and that it is best for him to look elsewhere, Balde intends to keep fighting for the manager\u2019s confidence and compete for his place.<\/p>\n

\"AlejandroWill Balde stay or leave? (Photo by Aitor Alcalde\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

No lack of interest<\/p>\n

If Bar\u00e7a ultimately asks him to leave, Balde is unlikely to struggle to find suitors.<\/p>\n

During the meeting with his agent, Jorge Mendes, in Barcelona on Friday, the Portuguese representative presented him with the offers currently available.<\/p>\n

There is plenty of interest from Europe, where Manchester United are among the clubs monitoring his situation, while Benfica and Aston Villa have also asked<\/a> about him.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Balde has proposals from Saudi Arabia as well.<\/p>\n

For now, though, Balde\u2019s preference remains to stay at Barcelona and earn his place rather than actively seek an exit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Earlier today, reports emerged suggesting that Alejandro Balde had decided to leave FC Barcelona before the transfer window…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11788,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[933,92,222,223],"class_list":["post-74302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-barcelona","tag-alejandro-balde","tag-barcelona","tag-barcelona-news","tag-fc-barcelona"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74302","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=74302"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74302\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11788"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}