Premier League club ready to offer 'astronomical' fee for Barcelona wonderkid
Cameron Smith
- 21 Nov 2023 12:54 GMT
- 3 min read
Alejandro Balde’s new Barcelona contract has not deterred interested parties, with reports from Spain suggesting one Premier League club is willing to offer an “astronomical” fee for the young Spaniard.
Balde, 20, signed a fresh deal at Camp Nou in September, keeping him contracted to the club until June 2028. The new terms also included a €1 billion release clause.
While the Spaniard has committed his long-term future to the Blaugrana, contract talks between the club and his representatives saw super agent Jorge Mendes warn Barcelona that Balde could become an important sellable asset should the need to raise funds arise.
Although Barca don’t want to offload the full-back, his potential departure is something that could be considered in the future, as Spanish outlet SPORT have reported that Barcelona are aware of the fact he is in high demand.
In fact, one unnamed Premier League club is said to be willing to spend an “astronomical” fee to secure his services.
Man City want Balde?
While the name of the English top flight outfit was not revealed, Manchester City were strongly linked with a move for Balde during the summer, so an accurate guess may suggest they are the club in question.
In fact, this summer window saw Fabrizio Romano report that “Manchester City asked for Alejandro Balde situation in May/June - but it was never concrete negotiations as Barça always considered Balde untouchable player.”
Furthermore, Man City also tried to sign Lamine Yamal during the summer in an attempted double swoop along with Balde. However, they were unsuccessful in their efforts to land the Camp Nou pair.
Barcelona board member Enric Mas even admitted there was a threat of Yamal and Balde departing when he told Marca in September: “Lamine Yamal and [Alejandro] Balde were in serious danger of leaving this summer because there is a club that tried to poach them.”
Man City may have failed in their bid to sign Yamal and Balde this summer, but the latter may well remain on their radar and a deal could happen if they are the team planning an “astronomical” offer.
