Alejandro Balde Martínez (born 18 October 2003) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a left-back for FC Barcelona.
![]() Balde in October 2019 with Spain U17 | |||
Personal information | |||
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Full name | Alejandro Balde Martínez[1] | ||
Date of birth | (2003-10-18) 18 October 2003 (age 19)[1] | ||
Place of birth | Barcelona, Spain | ||
Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[2] | ||
Position(s) | Left-back | ||
Club information | |||
Current team | FC Barcelona | ||
Number | 28 | ||
Youth career | |||
2007–2009 | Sant Gabriel | ||
2009–2011 | Espanyol | ||
2011–2021 | Barcelona | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2020– | Barcelona B | 29 | (0) |
2021– | Barcelona | 17 | (0) |
National team‡ | |||
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) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:45, 8 November 2022 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 27 September 2022 |
Born in Barcelona, Catalonia, to a Guinean father and a Dominican mother,[3] Balde joined FC Barcelona in 2011 at the age of eight after coming up through ranks at RCD Espanyol.[4] In July 2021, he signed a contract renewal with Barcelona until 2024 with a release clause of 500 million euros.[5]
Balde impressed during pre-season in the summer 2021, and began the new campaign as Jordi Alba's primary back-up at Camp Nou.[6] He sat on the bench for the opening match against Real Sociedad[7] and the next game against Athletic Bilbao.[8]
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.[9]
Uncapped, Balde was called up to the Spain national football team two days before the start of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, as fellow left-back José Gayà had injured his ankle in training.[10]
Club | Season | League | National Cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
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Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Barcelona B | 2020–21 | Segunda División B | 15 | 0 | — | — | 1[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 16 | 0 | ||
2021–22 | Primera División RFEF | 14 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | |||
Total | 29 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 30 | 0 | ||
Barcelona | 2021–22 | La Liga | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
2022–23 | La Liga | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0 | |
Total | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 0 | ||
Career total | 46 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 53 | 0 |
FC Barcelona Atlètic – current squad | |
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Spain squad – 2022 FIFA World Cup | ||
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