Barcelona star Alejandro Balde was not expecting the decision of manager Hansi Flick to drop him entirely from matchday duties for the club’s opening fixture of the new campaign.
Barca, of course, are fresh off a spectacular opening to the defence of their La Liga title on Sunday night. After making the trip to Alicante to take on Elche, the Blaugrana ran riot to the tune of a 5-0 triumph.
For the aforementioned Balde, however, from an individual standpoint, Sunday proved an evening to forget…
Amid mounting speculation surrounding his future in Catalunya’s capital heading into the final week of the summer transfer window, the Spaniard was omitted from Barcelona’s travelling squad bound for the Estadio Martínez Valero.
And this call, it has since been revealed, left Balde somewhat taken aback. As per a report from journalist Helena Condis of COPE:
‘For the first time, Balde has doubts about his future. They haven’t defined the role he’ll have if he stays. Yesterday, he was surprised that Flick left him out.’
Conor Laird – GSFN
