Alejandro Balde’s Barcelona stand-off has handed Manchester United a problem they thought they’d already tried to solve.
All summer, United circled the 22-year-old, pushing for a loan as they searched for long-term cover and competition at left-back. Barcelona held firm. Hansi Flick wanted to assess him up close, to shape him, to test his mentality.
A few weeks into the season, the picture looks very different.
Frozen out in Catalonia
Barcelona opened their Champions League campaign with a statement win, a 5-1 demolition of Feyenoord that crackled with attacking confidence. Goals flowed, the crowd roared, and yet one of the club’s brightest young defenders never left his seat.
Balde, a natural left-back and once touted as a cornerstone of Barça’s future, watched on as Joao Cancelo – a right-back by trade and a former Manchester City man – lined up on the opposite flank instead.
It wasn’t a one-off call. Balde has been rooted to the bench in every game this season, across all competitions. Not a minute played. Not a cameo in stoppage time. Nothing to suggest he sits anywhere near the top of Flick’s plans right now.
The tension surfaced before a ball was even kicked in La Liga. Balde was left out of the match-day squad entirely for the opening league win over Elche. Flick later explained the decision in unusually candid terms, revealing a conversation with the defender.
“No, I'm not asking him to leave,” Flick said at the time. “This morning I felt there was something wrong. I spoke to him and said: 'At this moment, I have this feeling, and I think it's best for you to clear your mind, sort out your thoughts, and then we'll talk again tomorrow.' And he agreed as well. He agreed to it because there are so many things going around in his head, and that's why he's not here.”
The German has since brought Balde back into the squad, but only as a spectator. His public message has been blunt: he wants more commitment, more fight, a player ready to scrap for his place rather than assume it.
For a full-back once heavily linked with Old Trafford, it’s a striking fall down the pecking order.
United’s left-back tightrope
While Balde waits for his chance in Barcelona, United walk a tightrope at left-back.
Michael Carrick has just one senior specialist in the role: Luke Shaw. The England international remains first choice and an important voice in the dressing room, but the depth chart behind him is thin.
If Shaw suffers an injury, Carrick’s options become awkward. Lisandro Martinez can shuffle across to left-back, but that robs United of their aggressive organiser at centre-half. Noussair Mazraoui or Diogo Dalot could be flipped to the wrong side, yet both are more comfortable and effective on the right.
None of those scenarios screams stability. All of them would force a reshuffle that weakens another part of the team.
The risk sharpened on the eve of United’s Champions League clash with Sabah at Old Trafford. Shaw did not take part in the final training session, immediately sparking questions about his fitness and availability.
Carrick moved to calm the concern, insisting the decision was precautionary.
“We just gave him an extra recovery day today. We'll see by tomorrow how he is,” the United manager said. “It's not an ongoing thing or a plan or anything like that. It was just off the back of the game the other day. So, as normal, each individual has different little things that we manage.”
Shaw is expected to be wrapped in cotton wool ahead of this weekend’s Manchester Derby, a fixture that rarely forgives defensive improvisation. Sabah might offer Carrick a low-risk environment to experiment, to test an emergency solution in a competitive setting before the stakes rise.
A door that might not stay closed
United tried to prise that door open in the summer, sensing an opportunity in Balde’s situation. Barcelona resisted, betting on Flick’s ability to re-energise and reshape a young defender with elite tools.
Right now, that bet looks uneasy. Balde is fit, available and unused. Cancelo, a loanee and a right-back, starts ahead of him on the left. Flick talks about commitment and mentality. The bench tells its own story.
For United, the equation is simple and uncomfortable. Their only natural left-back is being carefully managed through the schedule. Their former target is watching from the sidelines in Spain. One club has a player it doesn’t fully trust. The other has a position it can’t afford to leave exposed.
At some point this season, that tension is going to break one way or the other.
