{"id":75224,"date":"2026-08-24T20:43:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T20:43:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/75224\/"},"modified":"2026-08-24T20:43:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T20:43:11","slug":"alejandro-baldes-barcelona-future-in-doubt-after-hansi-flick-calls-for-100-commitment-amid-manchester-united-links","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/75224\/","title":{"rendered":"Alejandro Balde&#8217;s Barcelona future in doubt after Hansi Flick calls for &#8216;100% commitment&#8217; amid Manchester United links"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-testid=\"paragraph\" class=\"mb-[20px] md:mb-[30px] break-word\"><a href=\"https:\/\/worldsoccertalk.com\/tag\/alejandro-balde\/\" class=\"break-word font-articleLinkText text-articleLinkText hover:text-articleLinkTextHover hover:bg-articleLinkTextHoverBg cursor-pointer border-solid border-b-articleLinkTextHover\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Alejandro Balde<\/a> has found himself caught in the eye of a storm as one of the most high-profile omissions from FC Barcelona\u2018s La Liga season opener against Elche. While head coach <a href=\"https:\/\/worldsoccertalk.com\/tag\/hansi-flick\/\" class=\"break-word font-articleLinkText text-articleLinkText hover:text-articleLinkTextHover hover:bg-articleLinkTextHoverBg cursor-pointer border-solid border-b-articleLinkTextHover\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Hansi Flick<\/a> publicly called for \u201c100% commitment\u201d from his squad, rumors regarding a potential departure to Manchester United began to intensify.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"paragraph\" class=\"mb-[20px] md:mb-[30px] break-word\">In recent years, despite his youth, the 22-year-old Balde has established himself as <a href=\"https:\/\/worldsoccertalk.com\/tag\/barcelona\/\" class=\"break-word font-articleLinkText text-articleLinkText hover:text-articleLinkTextHover hover:bg-articleLinkTextHoverBg cursor-pointer border-solid border-b-articleLinkTextHover\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Barcelona<\/a>\u2018s clear first-choice left back. However, when the matchday squad was announced for the opener against Elche, the defender was left out entirely despite taking part in recent training sessions, with 19-year-old Xavi Espart stepping in to start at left back in his place.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"paragraph\" class=\"mb-[20px] md:mb-[30px] break-word\">During the press conference following Barca\u2019s 5-0 victory, Flick addressed his decision and clarified whether he had asked Balde to leave the club: \u201cI\u2019m not asking him to leave. This morning I spoke to him because I feel that there\u2019s something with him, with Alejandro Balde, and I said \u2018in this moment I have this feeling, and it\u2019s better that you get clear, make up your mind, and then we speak tomorrow again.\u2019 He agreed about this because too many things are in his head, and that\u2019s why he\u2019s not here.\u201c<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"paragraph\" class=\"mb-[20px] md:mb-[30px] break-word\">According to Diario Sport, relations between Balde and Flick have strained after the player rejected multiple transfer offers earlier in the summer, maintaining a firm desire to remain at Barcelona. Meanwhile, the player\u2019s camp expressed frustration that the squad drama surfaced just a week before the summer transfer window closes.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/hansi-flick-alejandro-balde-fc-barcelona-1920x1080.webp\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" alt=\"Hansi Flick, Head Coach of FC Barcelona, looks on with Alejandro Balde.\" class=\"h-auto\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"text-center mt-5 text-[14px] leading-[20px] font-normal\">Hansi Flick, Head Coach of FC Barcelona, looks on with Alejandro Balde. (Yasser Bakhsh\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"paragraph\" class=\"mb-[20px] md:mb-[30px] break-word\">Flick concluded his remarks by praising the defender\u2019s physical traits while reiterating the mental focus required to remain in his team. \u201cHe is a key player, but for me it\u2019s important to see whether you have the conviction to compete for your position. I monitor each player daily, how they train, how much effort they put in etc. It\u2019s important for the club. Only when we play as a team we have succcess, and I need everyone 100% committed with us,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"Julian Alvarez reportedly faces one last obstacle in Atletico Madrid for his Barcelona arrival\" href=\"https:\/\/worldsoccertalk.com\/news\/julian-alvarez-reportedly-faces-one-last-obstacle-in-atletico-madrid-for-his-barcelona-arrival\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" class=\"article-also-read-embed\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aspect-square max-w-[100px] m-[10px] md:m-0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/julian-alvarez-atletico-madrid-9-200x200.webp\" alt=\"Julian Alvarez reportedly faces one last obstacle in Atletico Madrid for his Barcelona arrival\" width=\"200\" height=\"200\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"font-secondary my-[13px] uppercase text-alsoReadSeeAlso bg-alsoReadSeeAlsoBackground alsoReadSeeAlso w-fit\">see also<\/p>\n<p class=\"w-full line-clamp-3 md:line-clamp-2 text-alsoReadEmbedTitle font-primary alsoReadLink\">Julian Alvarez reportedly faces one last obstacle in Atletico Madrid for his Barcelona arrival<\/p>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"paragraph\" class=\"mb-[20px] md:mb-[30px] break-word\">After missing the trip to Elche, Balde returned to first-team training during Monday\u2019s session. However, with Flick publicly praising Espart\u2019s performance in the opener and the September 1 transfer deadline approaching, Balde\u2019s long-term future at Barcelona remains far from settled.<\/p>\n<p>Manchester United showing interest in Balde<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"paragraph\" class=\"mb-[20px] md:mb-[30px] break-word\">According to Fabrizio Romano, Balde has no immediate desire to depart Barcelona, but would be open to an exit if the club actively pushes him toward the market. In that scenario, <a href=\"https:\/\/worldsoccertalk.com\/tag\/manchester-united\/\" class=\"break-word font-articleLinkText text-articleLinkText hover:text-articleLinkTextHover hover:bg-articleLinkTextHoverBg cursor-pointer border-solid border-b-articleLinkTextHover\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Manchester United<\/a> have made contact with Balde\u2019s agent, Jorge Mendes, to inquire about the logistics of a deal.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"paragraph\" class=\"mb-[20px] md:mb-[30px] break-word\">Left back has stood as one of United\u2019s most troublesome roster spots in recent years, with Luke Shaw anchoring the depth chart alongside reports from The Sun linking the club to Newcastle United\u2019s Lewis Hall. However, a move for Balde could present a more financially manageable alternative for the Premier League side.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"paragraph\" class=\"break-word\">As reported by Rob Dawson and Moises Llorens of ESPN, Manchester United are keen on proposing a season-long loan deal with an option to buy. The reporting duo indicates that Barcelona value the Spain international between 30 million and 40 million euros ($35M to $47M USD), a manageable threshold for United as Barca look to lean on Espart and Joao Cancelo at left back.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alejandro Balde has found himself caught in the eye of a storm as one of the most high-profile&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":75225,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[933,92,930,263],"class_list":["post-75224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-barcelona","tag-alejandro-balde","tag-barcelona","tag-hansi-flick","tag-manchester-united"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75224","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=75224"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75224\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}