Barcelona in no rush to renew the contract of 18-year-old breakout star

After Pedri and Gavi in the last two seasons, Barcelona have unearthed another gem of a talent in Alejandro Balde in the 2022/23 campaign.

Even though the La Masia defender made his first-team debut last year, it is in the current season that he is enjoying his proper breakthrough, having already dislodged Jordi Alba as the first-choice left-back.

Indeed, Balde has started all but one of Barça’s La Liga matches this season, sitting out only during the opener against Rayo Vallecano. He has also registered three assists in the process, quickly becoming an important part of Xavi Hernandez’s setup.

So, it should not come as a surprise that Barcelona are trying to tie Balde down to a new long-term contract. The 18-year-old’s current deal with the club stands to expire in 2024 and the Catalans are intent on ensuring that he stays put at Spotify Camp Nou for much longer.

MARCA, however, is reporting that the Blaugrana are relaxed over his contract situation and is in no hurry to sign an extension at this point as they believe there is enough time for them to enter into negotiations over a renewal.

Barcelona have been doing a good job building a core for the future by tying down young and rising stars to long-term deals. They have already handed extensions to Ansu Fati, Pedri, Ronald Araujo and more recently Gavi.

The Blaugrana are also planning to prolong the contracts of goalkeeping duo Inaki Pena and Arnau Tenas.

Balde, too, is on the agenda and discussions had taken place but the club have pressed pause on that currently, as they are not under pressure to hand out a new deal right away.

But it does not mean that they do not intend to renew Balde’s contract. In fact, Barça hope to resume talks with the left-back in a few months as they look to keep him around beyond 2024.