Barcelona sporting director Deco has received a call from Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola for Alejandro Balde, according to a Spanish report, which has revealed the left-back’s stance on leaving the defending Spanish champions for the Etihad Stadium.
Among the players that Man City signed in the summer of 2025 was Rayan Ait-Nouri at left-back. With Nico O’Reilly being the other recognised left-back in the Cityzens’ squad, one would think that Man City manager Guardiola is not in immediate need of another player in that role.
However, Ait-Nouri is injured at the moment, with O’Reilly having established himself as the number one left-back for Man City for the time being.
TEAMtalk’s transfer insider, Dean Jones, reported on October 3 that Ait-Nouri is facing an uncertain future at the Etihad Stadium, with a subsequent report claiming that Man City are keen on Eintracht Frankfurt and Germany international left-back Nathaniel Brown.
E-Noticies has now reported that Man City manager Guardiola is personally trying to sign Barcelona left-back Balde in the January transfer window.
The Catalan news outlet has reported that Man City want ‘a pure left-back’ and believe that Balde would be a good solution.
Man City tried to sign Balde in 2023 and are now back in for the 22-year-old Spanish left-back.
According to the report, Guardiola has already been in ‘contact’ with Barcelona sporting director Deco ‘to explore a complex operation’.
The former Barcelona manager has ‘requested information’ about Balde, his ‘old desire’.
Balde came through the Barcelona youth system and is now a member of the first-team squad.
The young left-back has made 132 appearances for Barcelona so far in his career, scoring three goals and providing 18 assists in the process.
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Does Alejandro Balde want to leave Barcelona for Man City?
Balde has made six appearances for Barcelona so far this season, while during the 2024/25 campaign, the Spanish left-back scored one goal and gave 10 assists in 47 matches in all competitions for the Blaugrana.
While Balde is not guaranteed a place in Hansi Flick’s starting line-up, according to E-Noticies, the left-back does not want to leave the defending Spanish champions in the middle of the season.
Although Man City are keen on a January deal for Balde and will not give up easily, Barcelona are ‘calm’ about the situation and have ‘full confidence’ in the defender.
Balde himself ‘has shown no intention of leaving’ Barcelona ‘in the short term’, according to the report, which suggests that Man City and Pep Guardiola will have to look elsewhere in their pursuit of a left-back.
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