One of Europe's biggest clubs has now reportedly registered their interest in Barcelona's highly-rated African starlet.
Portuguese giants FC Porto have become renowned for acquiring, and developing, promising young talent, and in line with that approach, the club has turned its attention to up-and-coming Barcelona defender Mikayil Faye, according to SPORT.
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Andoni Zubizarreta served as the Blaugrana's sporting director between 2010 and 2015, and now finds himself in the same role but at the Primeira Liga outfit.
Having been appointed to the position in April, it has been claimed that one of his first orders of business is to secure the signing of the Senegalese teenager.
However, it is believed it will prove a tough task to prise the centre-back away from the LALIGA giants, with Blaugrana sporting director Deco said to still be deciding whether or not Faye can be worked into the first-team set-up under new manager Hansi Flick or be moved on to another club.
Barca's current financial situation, however, may cause them to lean towards the latter option, and it has been suggested that the LALIGA side has slapped a price tag of €15 million (around R308 million) on the defender.
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It has further been claimed that Porto would face competition from other European clubs for Faye, including Bayern Munich, Manchester United, Bayer Leverkusen and Liverpool, who have all been tracking the player's progress, while Arsenal have reportedly enquired about the teenager's availability.
Former Blaugrana manager Xavi is said to have been an admirer of Faye, who scored on his international debut for the Indomitable Lions in a friendly against Gabon earlier this year.
During the 2023/24 season, the centre-back made 33 appearances for the Catalans' reserve side Barcelona Atletic – who compete in the third tier of Spanish football – and chipped in with four goals.
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Although he has not yet made a first-team appearance for Barca, he was named as an unused substitute for the first team on three occasions in the past campaign.
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