The claim lands as a rumour, not confirmation. CaughtOffside reported on Friday, citing Football Insider, that the Spain full-back is now more open to leaving Camp Nou than he was in August, when he dug in to fight for his place rather than take the move Manchester United were working on.
The reason for the shift is simple: he is not playing. Balde has managed only 12 minutes of La Liga football this season, a dramatic fall for a player who made 42 appearances across all competitions last season.
Hansi Flick has leaned on Xavi Espart and João Cancelo at left-back since the campaign began. The Barcelona manager addressed Balde’s situation in mid-September, saying it was “normal for the player to find it difficult after not playing or receiving minutes” and insisting he remained “happy with Balde as well as the rest of the squad.”
Summer stalemate, same price tag
Manchester United tested the water late in the summer window. Barcelona had made Balde available after an injury-plagued previous season in which he missed ten matches, but United’s late approach failed to produce an agreement and the player chose to stay. Flick then left him out of the matchday squad for Barcelona’s La Liga opener against Elche; Balde has since returned to the squad without playing.
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Sporting director Deco has publicly backed the defender, as reported by Barça Universal.
“He’s 22 years old, has a bright future ahead of him and a contract with the best club in the world. He has to fight for his place.”
The valuation is the hurdle United could not clear in the summer. Barcelona wanted around £30m then and, per CaughtOffside, the figure has not moved.
Verdict reshaping the Premier League backdrop
The talk arrives at an awkward moment for English football. On 29 September, a Premier League independent commission found Manchester City guilty of all charges of serious breaches of the league’s financial rules between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons. Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said the “core decision … details how the club systematically broke Premier League Rules for nearly a decade.”
Sanctions, including a possible points deduction or expulsion, will be decided in a separate hearing. City said they were “disappointed and surprised” and have announced an appeal, arguing the verdict “contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact.”
That hearing, not the first ruling, will set the shape of this season’s Premier League and the January market around it. Any Balde move is a long way from that outcome, and for now rests on an unconfirmed CaughtOffside report rather than a step from either club.
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