Barcelona’s Alejandro Balde called into Spain’s World Cup squad

Barcelona’s teenage left-back Alejandro Balde has been called into Spain’s World Cup 2022 squad to replaced the injured Jose Luis Gaya.

Gaya is set to leave the camp after sustaining an ankle injury and Balde will now take his place.

Balde had been with the Under-21s, who are due to take on Japan in a friendly, but will now link up with the senior squad instead.

The move caps a brilliant few months for Balde. The teenager has become a key player for Xavi’s side this season and has made 14 appearances in all competitions.

Balde has been preferred to Jordi Alba on the left of the defense and has also played at right-back, when required, and impressed on the opposite flank too.,

The teenager will see plenty of familiar faces when he joins with the Spain squad as there are a host of his Barca team-mates in Qatar already.

Eric Garcia, Ferran Torres, Alba, Sergio Busquets, Ansu Fati, Pedri and Gavi have also been called up by Luis Enrique for the tournament.