Alejandro Balde talks Barcelona breakthrough, Dembele, Fati, Gavi, Yamal, new contract

It has been a whirlwind of a year for Barcelona youngster Alejandro Balde. Not very long ago, he was finding hard to get regular minutes for the club’s Atletic side, but a strong pre-season this past summer put him in Xavi’s crosshairs.

Soon enough, Balde had usurped Jordi Alba’s spot as the first-choice left-back for Barça despite being in his teens. Things only continued to get better for the 19-year-old as he made his breakthrough into the Spanish national team, that too in the FIFA World Cup.

Having gone through a swift and spectacular rise in stature, Balde, in a recent interview with Que t’hi Jugues, looked back at how quickly things had changed for him, as he said:

“If they told me previously that I would participate with the first team and play in the World Cup, I would have said that we are on the Day of the Innocents.”

“Everything went quickly, a year ago I was in Barca B and now with the first team and I participated in the World Cup. It’s all gone very quickly, but I’m absorbing things well. It’s a dream.”

Balde’s contract with Barcelona expires in the summer of 2024, but the club are already working on extending his deal, with an agreement reported to be imminent.

Providing an update on the situation, the 19-year-old said: “Everything is managed by my agent. I want to stay here, but no one knows the future.”

The teenage left-back also spoke about some of his teammates in the interview, firstly name-checking Ousmane Dembele is the toughest to defend against. Indeed, when asked who had given him the most difficulty while defending, Balde said: “Dembele in training.”

The La Masia graduate also spoke highly of Ansu Fati, who has had a slow start to the season following a couple of injury-riddled seasons. “We all know the quality he has. We are all convinced that he will give us a lot of joy,” Balde said.

Balde also touched upon the promise being shown by 15-year-old prodigy Lamine Yamal, who is training with the first team of late. The left-back named the wonderkid as one of the best talents to have come through La Masia along with Gavi.

“He is 15 years old, he is very good and he has a bright future. He is a very good player, with a lot of quality… The greatest talent at La Masia next to Gavi,” he said.

Oftentimes this season Xavi has deployed Balde in an unnatural right-back position, but the youngster has delivered beyond expectations.

Talking about playing on the right side of the defence, the 19-year-old said: “I had never played at right-back, but as long as I get minutes I don’t care where I play.”

The young Spanish international admitted that he still has a lot of room for improvement when it comes to his game, saying: “I still have a lot to improve, I’m very young. I have to improve the defensive aspect, I’ve improved a lot, but I have to do more.”

Barcelona will resume their campaign this weekend against RCD Espanyol in the Catalan derby. Looking forward to the contest against their local rivals, Balde said: “A derby is always special, when we were kids it was the game of the year.”