Profile: Electric Alejandro Balde has a lot to offer

Profile: Electric Alejandro Balde has a lot to offer

Balde
Balde / | sport

The left back was a big revelation in preseason and earned his way to the B team

Many knew Alejandro Balde for the first time after seeing him on the front page of our newspaper. His appearance was surprising but his name is not new. At La Masia they have had it earmarked in capital letters for a long time. It is one of those players whom since childhood he has been pegged to reach the first team. He hasn't done it yet, but he has only appeared for a while with Barça B. He is on the right track and Ronald Koeman is keen on him.

Balde is facing the final stretch of his recovery. In a friendly against Cornellà, the left-back had to leave the Johan Cruyff Arena on a stretcher. Everything foreshadowed the worst. After a spectacular preseason at Juvenil A, Garcia Pimienta moved him up to the B side. His opportunity was short-lived but luckily, the medical report reported that he would 'only' be out for six weeks.

Now, on the final stretch, he can catch a glimpse of the light at the end of the tunnel. And that light has a name and surname. Ronald Koeman. The Dutch coach wants him in the first-team dynamic. He is not worried about age, 17. He already has players like Ansu Fati and Pedri playing at that age. He wants him close. To pamper him. So he can see what the first team is and, the moment Junior leaves, he can take a step forward. Until then, the idea is for him to continue playing for Barça B to pick up the pace of the competition.

Balde has an explosive mixture in his veins. His father Saliu is of African origin (Guinea Bissau) and his mother is Dominican although he was born in Barcelona. They wanted Alejandro to start his career in athletics. They also wanted him to do that at school, where the teachers, in the races that were held, made Alejandro start later than the rest of his classmates. They gave them an advantage. Of course, the first to arrive at the finish line, it was always Balde.

However, Balde liked football. Part of the "fault" for that is his brother Edy, who played in Plaça dels Porxus (Barcelona), where his parents had a local. In addition, Edy, played for Sant Marti Condal when he was seven years old. Alejandro was always going to see him and in one match they were missing a player. The coach called the youngest in the family, who was only four years old, to come and play. 

Alejandro did very well and there they already saw that football was his thing. He started at the Sant Gabriel school, at the age of six, but by the middle of the year they already raised him to the Prebenjamín category. That campaign he played as a forward and scored many goals. Barça and RCD Espanyol were following him.

Balde wanted to play for Barça but at the club they delayed their response for a long time and he preferred to accept the Espanyol offer. There, also as a forward, he stood out again and all doubts were dispelled. Barca came again and the dream continues. He's on the verge of the first team.

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