Raphinha drops huge clue on Alejandro Balde joining Man Utd from Barcelona

Raphinha has hinted whether Alejandro Balde is leaving Barcelona to join Manchester United, though the suggestion could be taken in one of two ways.

Man Utd are determined to sign a left-back once their revolution in central midfield is complete. With Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos banked, Carlos Baleba is primed to be the third and final signing in the engine room.

United’s top target throughout the summer has been Newcastle’s Lewis Hall. However, the Magpies – having already sold Bruno Guimaraes, Sandro Tonali and Anthony Gordon in this window – are refusing to offload Hall.

What’s more, news broke on Wednesday of Newcastle now being in talks to provide the 21-year-old with a new and improved contract, along with a position on the club’s ‘leadership team.’

With transfer guru Fabrizio Romano confirming it’s game over for Man Utd’s dreams of signing Hall, attention must turn elsewhere, and the Red Devils are looking over to Barcelona.

Man Utd make enquiry for Alejandro Balde

Reporting on his YouTube channel on Wednesday, Romano stated: “Manchester United made a call to Jorge Mendes, the agent of Alejandro Balde to understand the situation of the Spanish left-back at Barcelona.

“Today Jorge Mendes has arrived in Barcelona to discuss especially about exits. He was there for Joao Cancelo arrival but not only.

“Marc Casado for example is a client of Jorge Mendes and they have to decide about his next destination because he’s living in Barcelona and Alejandro Balde… what’s the situation?

“Barcelona and Balde share a great relationship, Balde is a Barca boy. Balde, in principle, doesn’t want to leave Barcelona.

“Balde would go only if it’s Barcelona telling Balde, ‘Okay you can go, we can sell you’, but Balde in principle wants to stay with Barcelona and continue with Barcelona.

“Then we have to see what happens because in case of big proposal I don’t know what can happen.

“For sure what I can mention is that there is a conversation that took place between Man United and Jorge Mendes to understand the situation around the boy.

“So let’s see what’s going to happen there, let’s see if Man Utd decide to go for him. There are more options, also cheaper obviously because Balde would be expensive.

“But this is just something behind the scenes to let you know how sometimes there are opportunities, how there are possibilities and how Manchester United are looking for that position.”

Put simply Balde doesn’t want to leave Barca, but if the club tell him his time is up, he won’t dig in and refuse to leave.

And with Barcelona recently confirming the capture of Joao Cancelo on a permanent deal, Balde might find himself rooted to the bench if remaining at the Camp Nou this season.

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Raphinha drops clue on Balde future

The latest from Spanish outlet Sport has shed light on Balde’s future, with the outlet again claiming Balde’s priority is to remain a Barcelona player despite Cancelo likely jettisoning him out of the strongest starting eleven.

Nevertheless, Man Utd’s interest in the player and the call they put in to his agent, Jorge Mendes, has ‘triggered activity’ at Barcelona.

The club recently named Raphinha as their interim captain, and he’s since taken to social media to share a photo of he and Balde embracing. The picture can be viewed here.

Sport interpret Raphinha’s post as ‘publicly supporting’ his teammate. In other words, they’re suggesting Raphinha wants Balde to stay, and he’s is not-so-subtly telling Barcelona to retain the player.

Of course, it could also be interpreted as Raphinha embracing Balde one last time before he heads to Old Trafford.

But of course, we’re a long way from any such transfer being finalised, with the only move made so far being United calling Balde’s agent.