Barcelona – Inter Milan swap deal for defenders has ‘zero possibility’ of happening

Barcelona – Inter Milan swap deal for defenders has ‘zero possibility’ of happening – Romano

Alejandro Balde is one of the only first-team regulars to not feature for a single minute under Hansi Flick this season.

While Joao Cancelo remains above him on the pecking order, Xavi Espart has emerged as a surprise candidate for the left-back position and is also ahead of Balde, making his situation at the club increasingly complicated.

The player is said to have had a meeting with Hansi Flick recently where he committed his loyalty to the club and agreed to fight for his place.

Despite that, however, there was talk late last night of the player entering a possible swap deal with Inter Milan .

Conflicting reports

As the report conveyed, Barcelona and the Serie A side were said to be in talks over an exchange deal involving Balde and Federico Dimarco in what came as a shocking report.

Could Dimarco arrive this summer? (Photo by James Worsfold/Getty Images)

Fabrizio Romano , however, has maintained that there is no such discussion and has once again come out to deny any possibility of the deal happening.

The Italian journalist has now come out to say that there is zero chance and possibility of Balde and Dimarco being swapped. He insists it is just a passing rumour and that there will be no deal between Barcelona and Inter Milan.

Furthermore, he goes a step ahead to claim that not only will the deal not go through but that nothing has ever been initiated on this front. Romano stands firm that the entire story is a fabricated claim.

A difficult battle for Balde

With Espart starting both games for Barcelona this season and completing all 180 minutes, even Joao Cancelo has found himself restricted to the bench.

Balde is expected to stay at Barcelona. (Photo by Aitor Alcalde/Getty Images)

There is no doubt that the Portuguese star will eventually return as a starter and that his fitness is currently being managed with caution, but Espart has not given the manager even the slightest reason to drop him.

In such a situation, the La Masia graduate will become Flick’s preferred backup for Cancelo over Alejandro Balde, seemingly leaving the latter as a third-choice.

Having been a starter for Barcelona year after year, it will be discomforting for Balde to see his starting privileges taken away from him so suddenly, but Flick has already given him a clear blueprint of what he must do to get back his importance.

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