Alejandro Balde
Balde in October 2019 with Spain U17
Personal information
Full name Alejandro Balde Martínez[1]
Date of birth (2003-10-18) 18 October 2003[1]
Place of birth Barcelona, Spain
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[2]
Position(s) Left-back
Team information
Current team
 Barcelona
Number 3
Youth career
2007–2009 Sant Gabriel
2009–2011 Cs Longueuil
2011–2021 Barcelona
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2020–2022 Barcelona B 29 (0)
2021– Barcelona 54 (1)
International career‡
2019 Spain U16 6 (0)
2019–2020 Spain U17 9 (0)
2019 Spain U18 3 (0)
2021 Spain U19 5 (0)
2022 Spain U21 2 (0)
2022– Spain 7 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20 December 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 12 October 2023

Alejandro Balde Martínez (born 18 October 2003) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a left-back for La Liga club Barcelona and the Spain national team.[3]

Club career

Born in Barcelona, Spain, to a Bissau-Guinean father and a Dominican mother,[4] Balde joined FC Barcelona in 2011 at the age of eight after coming up through ranks at RCD Espanyol.[5] In July 2021, he signed a contract renewal with Barcelona until 2024 with a release clause of 500 million euros.[6]

Balde impressed during pre-season in the summer 2021, and began the new campaign as Jordi Alba's primary back-up at Camp Nou.[7] He sat on the bench for the opening match against Real Sociedad[8] and the next game against Athletic Bilbao.[9]On 14 September 2021, he played his first official match for Barcelona's first team replacing Alba in the 74th minute of a 3–0 loss to Bayern Munich in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League.[10]

From the start of 2022–23 season, Balde was given a more prominent role by coach Xavi, starting in more league matches than Jordi Alba and receiving more minutes in important matches.[11] On 20 September 2023, it was announced that Balde would sign a new contract at the club until 2028, with the buy out clause set at €1 billion.[12]

International career

Balde is of Bissau-Guinean descent and was eligible to play for Guinea-Bissau or Spain, but pledged allegiance to La Roja. He received a surprise call-up to the Spain national team two days before the start of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, as Valencia left-back José Gayà had injured his ankle in the training camp.[13] On 23 November 2022, he made his first international appearance in a 7–0 win against Costa Rica, substituting for Jordi Alba in the 64th minute.

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 14 January 2024[14]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Copa del Rey Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Barcelona Atlètic 2020–21 Segunda División B 150——1[lower-alpha 1]0160
2021–22 Primera División RFEF 140——00140
Total 290000010300
Barcelona 2021–22 La Liga 50002[lower-alpha 2]00070
2022–23 La Liga 331406[lower-alpha 3]01[lower-alpha 4]0441
2023–24 La Liga 170006[lower-alpha 2]02[lower-alpha 4]0250
Total 5514014030761
Career total 84140140401061
  1. ↑ Appearance(s) in Segunda División B play-offs
  2. 1 2 Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League
  3. ↑ Four appearances in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Europa League
  4. 1 2 Appearance(s) in Supercopa de España

International

As of match played 12 October 2023[15]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Spain 202240
202330
Total70

Honours

Barcelona

Individual

References

  1. 1 2 "Alejandro Balde Martínez". FC Barcelona. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
  2. ↑ "Alejandro Balde". www.fcbarcelona.com. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
  3. ↑ The 25 best left backs in world football - ranked 90Min.com https://www.90min.com/posts/the-25-best-left-backs-in-world-football-ranked. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
  4. ↑ "Alejandro Balde: A great opportunity for the la Masia left back". sport.es. 13 July 2021.
  5. ↑ Rogé, Albert (12 November 2020). "Profile: Electric Alejandro Balde has a lot to offer". sport.
  6. ↑ Soldevila, Adrià (11 August 2021). "Alejandro Balde: Barcelona's 'spectacular' teenage left-back with a €500m release clause". Goal. Archived from the original on 13 August 2021.
  7. ↑ "Barca tie down Alejandro Balde, their Jordi Alba backup". sport.es. 22 July 2021.
  8. ↑ "Barcelona vs Real Sociedad lineup in LaLiga". fotmob.
  9. ↑ "Athletic Club vs Barcelona lineup in LaLiga". fotmob.
  10. ↑ "Champions League vs Barcelona".
  11. ↑ "Xavi on Balde: An 18-year-old playing at this level never ceases to amaze". sport.es. 17 September 2022.
  12. ↑ "Balde, culé hasta 2028" (in Spanish). FC Barcelona. 20 September 2023.
  13. ↑ Marsden, Sam; Llorens, Moises (18 November 2022). "World Cup 2022: Barcelona youngster Alejandro Balde replaces injured Jose Gaya in Spain squad". ESPN. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
  14. ↑ Alejandro Balde at Soccerway
  15. ↑ "Alejandro Balde". EU-Football.info. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  16. ↑ "FC Barcelona, Liga champions 2022/23!". FC Barcelona. 14 May 2023.
  17. ↑ "Spanish Super Cup: Barcelona beat Real Madrid". BBC Sport. 15 January 2023. Archived from the original on 25 January 2023. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  18. ↑ "Los Premios 'Team Of The Season' de EA SPORTSTM y LaLiga revelan a los mejores 15 jugadores de la temporada" [The EA SPORTSTM and LaLiga 'Team Of The Season' Awards reveal the best 15 players of the season]. La Liga. 19 May 2023. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  19. ↑ "IFFHS MEN'S YOUTH (U20) WORLD TEAM 2023". IFFHS. 5 January 2024. Retrieved 5 January 2024.


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