Alejandro Balde understood to be earning the respect of Barcelona’s dressing room

Alejandro Balde has earned the respect of senior players in Barcelona’s dressing room due to the way he’s conducted himself according to Mundo Deportivo. The 18-year-old started Barcelona’s 4-1 defeat of Real Sociedad on Sunday and assisted Robert Lewandowski’s opening goal.

Born in L’Hospitalet de Llobregat to a father from Guinea Bissau and a mother from the Dominican Republic, starting Balde over veteran full-back Jordi Alba was a big call from Xavi Hernandez. But it was vindicated by the teenager’s impressive performance. Alba embraced him when he replaced him in the 64th minute.

And that was symbolic. The feeling in the dressing room is that Balde is a valued squad member rather than someone just stepping up and passing through. Xavi is said to like him so much that he’s cooled his interest in Chelsea left-back Marcos Alonso. Balde, to date, has made eight appearances for Barcelona’s first-team. His assist for Lewandowski was his first at that level.

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