Barcelona young centre-back knocking on first-team door after another sensational goal today
Barcelona’s season seemed to be done and dusted for the most part already heading into February, especially after the loss against Villarreal at home.
That game pointed towards the end of Xavi’s tenure for good, and the Spaniard himself publicly resigned from the club following that defeat, saying that he will not remain in the Catalan capital beyond this season.
However, since then, the Catalan giants have somehow managed to find form out of nowhere and are now playing some of the best football Xavi’s tenure has seen so far.
Now on an 11-game unbeaten streak, a few players have been at the heart of this form.
Robert Lewandowski, of course, is one, scoring seven goals and giving three assists across this run. Lamine Yamal, Jules Kounde, and Ronald Araujo deserve to be credited, as well, but at the base of it all has been Pau Cubarsi.
Still only 17, Cubarsi has been playing well beyond his age this season and has put in absolute masterclass performances against Napoli, Atletico Madrid, and now Las Palmas already.
He is not the only teenage wonderkid in defence Barcelona have, though, as a certain Mikayil Faye is knocking on the first-team door.
Mika: A man in form
Barcelona extensively scouted and eventually splashed €1.5 million on Faye in the summer, bringing him in from NK Kustosija.
While he took some time settling into the Barcelona Atletic side under Rafa Marquez, the Senegalese is now one of the most important players for them now.
As recently as today, Barcelona went 2-0 down to Osasuna B, before starting a remontada. Pau Victor halved the deficit before the break, and an own-goal from Dimitrios Stamatakis brought the sides level.
Five minutes later, Barça won a free-kick from just outside the box. Faye stepped up to take it, and absolutely hammered the ball into the roof of the net, completing the comeback for his team.
🚀 ¡𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗨𝗗𝗢 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗬𝗔𝗭𝗢 𝗗𝗘 𝗠𝗜𝗞𝗔 𝗙𝗔𝗬𝗘!
💙 El @FCBarcelonaB le da la vuelta al marcador en 𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘀 𝗱𝗲 𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗼 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘁𝗼𝘀.
📺 https://t.co/aMfSPNCw4I#OsasunaBBarçaAtlètic | #PrimeraFederación pic.twitter.com/riL9FAbUdz
— Primera Federación (@Primera_RFEF) March 31, 2024
This is not even his best goal this week, though. The 19-year-old was called to the Senegalese senior team last fortnight, and scored an absolute screamer from over nearly 35 yards out.
Future in doubt
Faye has been called up to the senior team for the last two games in a row, but has not had the chance to make his debut, yet.
He is a man-in-demand, though. Ligue 1 outfit Lens tried signing him in the winter, tabling a €9 million bid that was rejected. They are expected to return in the summer with an improved offer.
Manchester United, Inter Milan, Bayern Munich, and Chelsea have also been quoted with an interest, while teams in La Liga are also ready to take the Senegalese in on loan.
Barcelona are expecting something of a bidding war for Faye in the summer, with several top teams keeping tabs on his situation. The player, meanwhile, is dreaming about breaking into the first-team.
His dream could become a reality next season especially if Barça decide to sell one of Andreas Christensen or Jules Kounde in the summer.
