Premier League champions Liverpool have made an approach for Alejandro Balde but the Barcelona wonder-kid appears to have a bright future at the Camp Nou, according to Sport.
Say what you want about Ronald Koeman (any many have after Barca’s worst start to a La Liga season since the Louis Van Gaal days in 2002), the club legend-turned-manager is laying the foundations for a bright future in Catalonia.
Koeman was hired to bridge the gap between one tired old generation and the new one.
With teenagers Pedri, Francisco Trincao and the exceptional Ansu Fati featuring with increasingly regularity, the former Everton and Southampton boss is certainly doing what was asked of him.
Sport claim that another bright young thing, the supremely-gifted Balde, could also be promoted to Barcelona’s first-team squad sooner rather than later.
That, however, depends on Junior Firpo’s future with Inter Milan and Atalanta keen on the seldom-seen Spaniard.
If the £27 million left-back does leave in January, Barca will move Balde up the pecking order rather than enter the market for a more experienced replacement.
Both Liverpool and Chelsea have knocked on Balde’s door recently in an attempt to convince the teen sensation to turn his back on La Masia.
Barca have seen a whole host of talented youngsters, from Pablo Moreno to Manchester United’s Marc Jurado, slip through the net of late but it seems unlikely that Balde will follow in their footsteps.
According to Sport, the ‘new Ansu Fati’ believes he has a bright future ahead of him at Barcelona and has no plans to walk away.
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