illustrious departures and unknown signings for the subsidiary

2023-06-16 14:00:10

The same day that Joan Laporta and José Ramón Alexanco put their trust in Rafa Márquez for another year despite being eliminated in the semifinals of the play-off of promotion to the Second Division, the Blaugrana subsidiary acquired the services of Mikayil Faye, an 18-year-old Senegalese defender from NK Kustosija, in the lower part of the second category of Croatian football.

During the morning of this Wednesday, the player’s agents met with Mateu Alemany to finalize the transfer figures, which exceed one million euros. Likewise, the player passed and successfully passed the medical examination with the subsidiary’s doctor and it is expected that the agreement will become official in the next few hours.

Despite being unknown to the general public, Blaugrana analysts have been following him for some time and have overtaken other European clubs. Finally, the price of the transaction will be 1.5 million euros and not five as had been speculated. The signing was managed by Juanma López, former Atlético de Madrid player and current representative of Álvaro Morata and Dani Olmo, two players who have been in Barcelona’s orbit for the last few months.

Faye dominates the left central position although he develops solvently on the wing. They nickname him Freak for his 186 centimeters, which does not exempt him from being a neat player with the ball at his feet and in the creation of play. He is powerful in the aerial game and quick in defensive tasks. Of course, the signing of the Senegalese is a surprise in the subsidiary’s dressing room, as it may threaten the prominence of Chadi Riad, who occupies exactly his position, to the point of causing him to leave on loan. On the other hand, the arrival of Iñigo Martínez, also central left, barred the doors to the first team.

The Senegalese could also cut the projection of one of the pearls of La Masia, Pau Cubarsí, who despite being 16 years old and being a cadet is a fixture in Ibán Cuadrado’s Juvenile B. In the coming weeks he had to sign his first contract as a professional and this news certainly does not help in the negotiations. In fact, Manchester City has shown interest in his recruitment with Girona as a bridge, according to reports giants.

Xavi’s bets for the pre-season

Despite the signing of Faye, Chadi is under contract and is one of those earmarked to accompany the first team during the pre-season. Everything indicates that the young Moroccan will be accompanied by Estanis Pedrola, Marc Casadó and Lamine Yamal. If there are no surprises, all of them will do the pre-season tour in the United States (as Xavi has confirmed in recent appearances) and will have no problem staying at the club if they increase their dynamic with the first team. In the case of Lamine Yamal, he has yet to sign his renewal. Her representative, Jorge Mendes, has been negotiating her for months.

Releasing tokens is an obligation for the Barça subsidiary

The Blaugrana subsidiary, which will continue to train the renewed Rafa Márquez, has a duty: having to get rid of a large part of the staff, either because the transfers are coming to an end, the purchase options are unaffordable due to economy and the club’s cutbacks or because there are players who have not performed as expected and are not counted on for next season. The latter are the cases of Àlex Zalaya, Sergi Rosanes, Hiroki Abe and the injured Arnau Rafús. The club has already taken care of conveying to them that they will not count on them at the end of their association with Barça.

Tenas, renewal and dynamics of the first team

Captain Arnau Tenas, in fact third goalkeeper of the first team, even if he is a starter in the subsidiary, he is one of those whose contract is also coming to an end this season, although his continuity is not in danger, as Barça currently plans to activate the two optional years he has, or consider a new contract. For his part, Ander Astralaga, goalkeeper of the youth team who has already confirmed his presence in the subsidiary, will be the one who will have more prominence next year in front of Nil Ruiz, substitute who has not had many minutes and has not yet convinced the Mexican coach . Ruiz has an armored contract: he either leaves on loan or stays in the squad.

Lights and shadows in the cessions and exits through the back door

They end their loan to the Barcelona club Moha Moukhliss, part of an exchange with Àlex Valle who will return to Barcelona after his Erasmus in Andorra; Alpha Diounkou, who will return to Granada after his passing with more pain than glory; Roberto Fernández (Málaga); Román Vega (Argentinos Juniors), and Luismi Cruz, who despite being a key piece will return to Sevilla Atlético. Acquiring it in ownership costs three million, a figure that Barça neither wants nor can assume.

Added to all this are the already confirmed departures of Àlex Carbonell and Víctor Barberá, who has made official the signing by Bruges of Ferran Jutglà and Ilias Akhomach, who has been removed from the team for a large part of the season and he will end up walking free.

The last to say goodbye was Álvaro Núñez, the 22-year-old full-back has announced his departure through an emotional message on his social networks. He arrived from the Athletic Club squad and has been instrumental for Marquez thanks to his performance, but Xavi has not considered him for the first team despite the hole at right-back. Without a doubt it will be a sensitive loss for the subsidiary, which will have to find a substitute for guarantees.

Now, it’s not all bad news, the Blaugrana subsidiary recovers several players on loan with whom it will have to think about making a place for them or finding an exit for them. They are the cases of; Gustavo Maia (Valencia B); Zacarías Ghailán (Mallorca B); Fermín López (Linares) and Josep Cerdà and Saïdou Bah (UE Olot).

Continuity in the commitment to youth

In Márquez’s first season, the club made the decision to bet on youth and footballers who were finishing their stage with the youth team. The result has been pleasingly positive and the decision will remain firm for next season. Players such as Aleix Garrido, Ángel Alarcón or Lamine Yamal himself will play an important role, along with the generation of 2004, which is rising strongly with the help of Unai Hernández, Marc Guiu, Héctor Fort or Gerard Hernández.