Alejandro Balde

Alejandro Balde Martínez (born 18 October 2003) is a Spanish professional footballer from Catalonia who plays as a left-back for La Liga club Barcelona and the Spain national team.

Club career
Born in Barcelona, Catalonia, to a Bissau-Guinean father and a Dominican mother, Balde joined Barcelona in 2011 at the age of eight after coming up through ranks at Espanyol. In July 2021, he signed a contract renewal with Barcelona until 2024 with a release clause of 500 million euros.

Balde impressed during pre-season in the summer 2021, and began the new campaign as Jordi Alba's primary back-up at the Camp Nou. He sat on the bench for the opening match against Real Sociedad and the next game against Athletic Bilbao. 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.

From the start of 2022–23 season, Balde was given a more prominent role by coach Xavi, starting in more league matches than Jordi Alba and receiving more minutes in important matches. On 20 September 2023, it was announced that Balde would sign a new contract at the club until 2028, with the buy out clause set at €1 billion. In Thursday, January 24, 2024 he suffered a Hamstring injury in his right foot, he had to undergo surgery after leaving the pitch in tears against Athletic Club in the Copa Del Rey Quarterfinals

International career
Balde is a Bissau-Guinean descent and was eligible to play for Guinea-Bissau or Spain, but pledged allegiance to La Roja. He received a surprise call-up to the Spain national team two days before the start of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, as Valencia left-back José Gayà had injured his ankle in the training camp. On 23 November 2022, he made his first international appearance in a 7–0 win against Costa Rica, substituting for Jordi Alba in the 64th minute.

Honours
Barcelona
 * La Liga: 2022–23
 * Supercopa de España: 2023

Individual
 * La Liga Team of the Season: 2022–23
 * IFFHS Men's World Youth (U20) Team: 2023
 * IFFHS Men's Youth (U20) UEFA Team: 2023