Man United prepare to do business with Barcelona for second successive year after shortlisting £52m-valued Spaniard

Manchester United have reportedly begun sizing up a move for Barcelona full-back Alejandro Balde, as per SPORT.Indeed, the Red Devils are seemingly starting to prepare for a future without Luke Shaw, who’s now 30 and contracted to the club until June 2027.Despite being available to start every Premier League fixture so far this season, it goes without saying that Shaw’s United career has been absolutely plagued by unrelenting injury woes, with Transfermarkt estimating that he has missed a whopping 159 Premier League matches through fitness issues since signing in 2014.DOWNLOAD THE OFFICIAL STRETTY NEWS APP FOR ALL THE LATEST UPDATES & BREAKING – STRAIGHT TO YOUR PHONE! ON APPLE & GOOGLE PLAYUnited scout Balde as Shaw’s successor(Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images)As a result, it would be ill-advised for the club to offer him new terms when he approaches the end of his deal next year, as you simply cannot guarantee that he’ll play enough to warrant an extension, especially given the wages (£150,000 per week) he’s on.With counterpart Patrick Dorgu now also, when fit, flourishing more in an attacking role as a winger, it appears to have prompted the board to start scouring the market for highly-rated left-backs – and Balde is certainly up there with one of the best in world football.The 22-year-old has spent 15 years of his youth and senior career working his way through the ranks of La Masia before becoming an established starter for Barcelona.He is also a seven-capped Spain international, so he will be hoping he does enough from now until the end of the campaign to warrant a call-up in time for the World Cup, which would mark his first inclusion into the squad since October 2023.Barcelona are unlikely to push for Balde’s exit(Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images)Balde is valued at £52 million by Transfermarkt, but would undoubtedly generate a significantly higher fee if the Blaugrana were to ever part ways with their academy graduate; they also included a release clause worth £1 billion into his contract, showing just how uninterested they’d be in facilitating his departure.Should United make a move this summer, it would be their second successive year doing business with the Catalan giants, having sent Marcus Rashford over on loan before 2025/2026 got underway.