Barcelona defender issues seven-word response to Liverpool transfer move

Barcelona’s Alejandro Balde has poured cold water on a potential switch to Liverpool in the near future after interacting with a fan on social media.

The 20-year-old graduated through the famed La Masia academy and broke into the first-team in 2021, at the tender age of 18. Favoured by Xavi, he battled with experienced veteran Jordi Alba for the left-back spot, playing 44 times in the 2022/23 campaign.

That earned him a new deal in September, 2023 as he put pen-to-paper on a five-year-deal which is said to have a release clause of €1bn (£852m) which makes a potential exit seem unlikely. Although, a recent report from 90min seemed to hint that he could make an exit in the future as players like Pedri, Gavi and Lamine Yamal were considered untouchable - yet, Balde was not.

However, after a Liverpool fan asked him to "come to Liverpool in summer" on social media, Balde’s response suggests he will remain in Spain for the foreseeable future at least. Balde replied, "And leaving Barcelona in summer? No man," followed by a laughing emoji.

For Liverpool, the left-back position is one of debate. Kostas Tsimikas has been earmarked as a potential departure after failing to displace Joe Gomez during Andy Robertson’s long layoff this season. And Robertson, who turned 30 in March, is past his absolute best and struggled to break into the team after his shoulder injury following Gomez’s form.

With Arne Slot set to arrive imminently, it is unclear how he rates his current left-back options as Gomez is among their four centre-back options but he played in that position just five times last season. We’ve seen links to Wolves’ Rayan Ait-Nouri as well, which could suggest the club are looking to bolster that position this summer.