The €45m Barcelona left back saga looks more smoke than fire

Every transfer window brings its share of stories that look exciting on paper and fall apart under the slightest scrutiny. Our early feeling is that the Alejandro Balde link belongs firmly in that category, and one of the best connected journalists covering Liverpool appears to share our doubts.

The Barcelona left back has been mentioned as a target for both the Reds and AC Milan, with suggestions that the Catalan club would want at least €45m to let him go. On the surface it sounds plausible. Liverpool need help at full back, Barcelona seem willing to listen, and Balde is still young with plenty of top level experience behind him.

Dig a little deeper, though, and the story starts to wobble.

Where the Balde rumour came from

The link appears to have originated in Spain, with reports claiming Liverpool and Milan are both chasing the defender. Dave Davis put the story to David Lynch on a podcast this week, noting that Balde’s name keeps cropping up in connection with Anfield and asking whether the left back issue needs fixing before the summer.

Lynch did not dismiss the need. He accepted that the Reds have two imperfect choices on the left of their back four. His point was simply that imperfect is not the same as empty, and that a club in Liverpool’s position does not have to rush.

Knowing how the recruitment team tends to work, he said, he could not see them being desperate to complete a deal in January. We find that entirely believable. Liverpool’s best business in recent years has been planned months in advance, not cobbled together in a winter scramble.

Is Balde actually good enough?

This is where Lynch’s comments became genuinely interesting, because he went beyond the timing question and raised doubts about the player himself.

He admitted he was not sure how good Balde really is. He pointed out that the defender has racked up a lot of games for Barcelona at a young age, yet the club clearly do not see him as part of their long term plans. That alone should give any buyer pause. When a side as possession focused as Barcelona are happy to cash in on a homegrown full back, there is usually a reason.

Lynch added that Balde’s numbers from last season did not exactly leap off the page. We have watched enough of him to agree that he is quick and willing, but consistency and end product have not always followed. For €45m, Liverpool would want more than potential and pace.

Under Andoni Iraola, the full backs are asked to do a great deal, both in pressing and in supporting the attack. Whether Balde suits that demanding role is far from clear, and Lynch was careful not to suggest any approach had been made.

A name used to build a market?

The most revealing part of the discussion came when Lynch said plainly that the interest was not something he had heard about personally.

He floated the idea that Liverpool might be getting dragged into the story to help create a market for the player, and warned that this sort of thing could become more common with January close at hand. We think that is the key to the whole saga. Attaching a Premier League giant to a player is one of the oldest ways to drive up interest and price, and Barcelona would hardly be the first club to benefit from it.

Until there is more than one report and a price tag, we remain suspicious.

The bigger picture for the summer

None of this means Liverpool can ignore the position forever. Davis rightly asked whether pushing every decision back to the summer would leave the club with too much to do in one window.

Lynch’s answer was that the full backs and midfield are the areas that absolutely require work, and he did not completely rule out an early move if the club spotted a chance to get ahead of their summer plans. But he remained unconvinced that they would speed things up purely to lighten the load later.

Our view is simple. Liverpool will almost certainly be in the market for a full back before next season. Whether that full back is Alejandro Balde is a very different question, and right now the evidence points towards no. A January move for him looks even less likely, and we would not be holding our breath.