Getafe chief Ramon Planes admits they tried to sign Barcelona wing-back Alejandro Balde.

Balde is now with the Spain's World Cup squad.

Planes, who was formerly with Barca, revealed: "I have a very good relationship with him and his family.

"This summer we were very attentive. We followed Marcos Alonso's story very closely. I took advantage of this personal relationship to tell him that we liked him very much. There was a possibility that Barça, as they did with Nico and Abde, wanted a way out to look for minutes. But everything changed.

"In football, everything is a matter of key moments. All this indeed hinged a lot on the Alonso case that dragged on throughout the summer. With Marcos and Jordi Alba, Xavi had two very good full-backs. But Xavi wanted to bet on the youngster. He had a very good Gamper and the coach realised that he was at a great level",