On the day of his contract signing with FC Barcelona, new manager Hansi Flick took a tour of the club’s facilities and happened to interact with some of the players who were training at the time.
One such star who Flick met with was left-back Alejandro Balde. Sidelined with an injury since January, the 20-year-old left-back has been working on his rehabilitation, hoping to return to action in time for pre-season.
In fact, during their short interaction, Balde told his new manager that he would be ready for pre-season.
Flick aims to turn Balde into Alphonso Davies
Now, Mundo Deportivo reports that Hansi Flick is hoping to turn Alejandro Balde into a success story similar to the one he enjoyed with Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich.
The German coach has very good references for Balde and hopes he can fulfil the role of the attacking left wing-back that Davies played at Bayern Munich.
The Canadian full-back was Barca’s nightmare in the 2-8 win in Lisbon in the 2019-20 Champions League quarter-finals. That campaign was his most prolific with nine assists, while he also scored three goals.
And Flick is hoping to turn Balde into a similar weapon on the left flank during his tenure at Barcelona once he is back from injury.
The La Masia graduate, for his part, knows that Flick’s system of play is well suited to his qualities and he is highly motivated to succeed.
There had been speculations that Balde could be sold for a significant offer in the summer, but with Flick having major plans for him, one can assume that the Spanish international will stay at the club beyond the summer.
