The Swansea City boss has been in charge for little over two years in his first managerial job. But in that time he has guided his team from mid table League One to narrowly missing out on a place in the play offs for a Premier League place.
And couple that with the way he has his side playing football it is no wonder that interest has come from elsewhere – most notably Man Utd where Roberto was touted as a potential number 2 to Sir Alex Ferguson.
And Balague believes that it is only a matter of time before more speculation arrives, telling Wales on Sunday “What he is doing is not going unnoticed
“I know there are big clubs in Scotland following him and clubs in the Premiership and you can certainly see him being a top, top manager in the game.
“I am convinced he will be a top four manager. That doesn’t come from me knowing him as a person, but this is from speaking to people who have played for him, other managers and a lot of people in football who just see something special in him.
“They can see him being one of the top two or three managers in Britain.
“Could Premier League clubs come in for him? They already are,” insists the UK correspondent for influential Spanish sports paper AS.
“Yet, he is still at Swansea. Without a doubt he could have gone already. There was the story that Sir Alex Ferguson wanted him as his No. 2 – and I believe it took Roberto a week to answer Sir Alex Ferguson’s calls which must be some sort of historical record.
“Some big clubs in Scotland want him, there are clubs at the top end of the Championship and in the Premier League who are following him very closely.
“But – and I’m only guessing – Swansea City is more than just a stepping stone for him and he believes he can achieve something. He is putting a lot of his presence into the club.
“He has learned things in management that it has taken others three years to find out and the potential for what he is doing is quite clear.
“He has been willing to show that if in the Championship or the lower leagues you put a little bit of control into the game you will always do well.
“And he has also got the eye to see what a Spanish player or a European player can do – when you have that combination it is fantastic.
“Swansea fans shouldn’t be worried about interest in their players; they should hope for it,” argues Balagué.
“Because if a £100,000 player is sold for £1m then Roberto knows where to look to do it again. He can find dozens of the right players in Spain.
“He knows what players from there can do, the ones that would be able to adapt.”
This article first appeared on JACKARMY.net.