Barcelona will complete the agreement to renew rising star until 2028 soon – Romano

Earlier this month, it emerged that Barcelona have reached an agreement with academy prodigy Lamine Yamal over his professional contract after he turned 16 years old. The teenage gem is set to sign a three-year deal until 2026.

As it turns out, Yamal is not the only academy ace set to renew his contract. Indeed, as per Fabrizio Romano, Barcelona will complete the agreement with rising Alejandro Balde over a new five-year contract which will keep him at the club until 2028.

Balde, a product of the La Masia youth setup, enjoyed a fine breakthrough campaign with Barça in 2022/23.

The 19-year-old took over the first-choice left-back slot from Jordi Alba and played an important role in the club’s La Liga title triumph. In 33 league appearances, the youngster scored one goal and set up six more.

Balde’s current contract with Barcelona expires in 2024, prompting interest from clubs across Europe. Most recently, it was reported that Manchester City sent in a lucrative contract offer for the Spanish international, but he turned it down as he prioritised staying at the Catalan club.

Talks over a new deal with Balde’s agent, Jorge Mendes, have been going on for a while now and it was suggested that an agreement was close.

And now, Romano is reporting that an extension is all but done with Barcelona set to complete the agreement to extend the 19-year-old’s contract in the next few days. Balde will be signing a five-year deal that will keep him at the club until 2028.

Naturally, the 19-year-old will see an improvement in his wages while his release clause amount is also likely to be increased.

Once renewed, Balde’s contract registration might have to wait until the Catalans axe some of the unwanted players from the squad and clear up space on the wage bill.