Monza Transfer Market: No Change of Heart on Keita Balde
Getty Images
Keita Balde will not be playing for Monza—which was recently promoted to Serie A—during the 2026–27 season. Last season, the former Lazio and Inter player—who had joined the Biancorossi as a free agent after a brief stint with Sivasspor in Turkey—had major issues with Biancorossi head coach Paolo Bianco. There were no conflicts with Ivan Juric, but the player does not fit into the Croatian coach’s plans—a coach who arrived in Brianza highly motivated, as he explained Friday during his introductory press conference.
Yet the Senegalese player, during the recently concluded Serie B season, had proven he could be a key asset for the Brianza-based club with two goals, both of which were decisive: one in the away victory at Frosinone in October 2025, and the other to open the scoring in Pescara a few weeks later. On that latter occasion, in particular, he contributed to the sixth of seven consecutive wins that had propelled Monza to the top of the Serie B standings.
His relationship with Bianco, however, was never idyllic. Throughout the season, the 1995-born player alternated between starting appearances and long stretches on the bench: an inconsistent role that inevitably affected his performance and fueled transfer rumors. On the transfer front, Lazio had already expressed concrete interest in Keita Balde back in January, bolstered by the deep connection the forward has always claimed to have with the Biancocelesti.
It now remains to be seen where the 31-year-old will go next; he is eligible to play as a European Union player since he was born in Spain and holds a Spanish passport. Following his time at Lazio, Keita Balde has played for Monaco, Inter, Sampdoria, Cagliari, Spartak Moscow, Espanyol, and Sivasspor, as well as the Senegal national team, with whom he won the Africa Cup of Nations in 2021.
