Alejandro Balde has been Barcelona’s first-choice left-back and had been playing well early in the season. However, the young player’s thigh injury earlier this month was a huge setback.
Gerard Martin took center stage after the Spaniard was out for little under a month due to an injury he sustained while training at the club’s facilities during the international break.
Martin has performed incredibly well in recent weeks after having to replace Balde in the starting lineup. And according to AS as reported by Barca Universal, manager Hansi Flick is happy with the 23-year-old.
The Spanish full-back is growing as a football player quickly under Flick’s tutelage. At the beginning of current season, he is maintaining the quality improvement he made at the close of the previous one.
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He did not commit a foul, won a foul, and recovered four balls against Getafe on Sunday. He flawlessly managed his left flank and halted all of the Madrid-based side’s attacking threats.
In addition to playing in the Champions League opener away to Newcastle, which was a difficult test that he passed with flying colors, the young full-back has now appeared in the last three league games after missing the first two because of registration problems.
He featured in 42 games in all competitions last season, contributing six assists and one goal. Some clubs in t he Premier League expressed interest in Martin due to his performances, but he chose to remain at Barcelona and is now making use of his opportunities.
Flick is quite pleased with Martin’s performances, reliability, and consistency in Balde’s absence, and he has a lot of faith in him.
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