In a major development, Jose Alvarez of El Chiringuito TV reports that Aston Villa are prepared to go all out to sign Alejandro Balde from FC Barcelona in the summer.
The 22-year-old La Masia graduate has seemingly emerged as a key target for the Premier League club, managed by Unai Emery, heading into the upcoming summer transfer window.
€50 million for Balde
As such, the journalist claims that Aston Villa are prepared to pay as much as €50 million to sign Balde from Barcelona.
On top of that, the English club would be willing to offer the left-back a salary that would be ‘impossible to refuse’ in a bid to tempt him away from the Spotify Camp Nou.
Barcelona need to make one or two notable sales during the summer transfer window in order to achieve their ambitious goals of signing Alessandro Bastoni as well as Julian Alvarez or a different world-class striker.
Balde on the move? (Photo by Yasser Bakhsh/Getty Images)
Balde, to that end, has been mentioned as a possible candidate for sale. While the Catalans are not actively trying to offload him, they would be open to studying any attractive proposal that would come in for the 22-year-old.
And, a potential offer of €50 million from Villa, could prove to be very tempting for the La Liga champions. Given that he is a homegrown talent, the entire fee received for him would count as total profit in the books, making a sale an even more attractive prospect.
Balde, for his part, does not wish to leave Barcelona. However, as mentioned, the contract offer from the Premier League club could turn out to be too tempting to turn down.
It remains to be seen how things develop in the coming weeks with regard to Balde and his future at Barcelona beyond this season. He has a contract until 2028 and has played 36 times this season, recording three assists.
