Hansi Flick is expected to officially pen his contract with Barcelona tomorrow, and thus, take upon himself the brunt of the club’s rebuild.
As advised by Xavi on his way out, the German tactician will not have it easy in Catalonia, especially given the club’s finances. The situation undoubtedly will force Flick to turn to the academy regularly, and his keen interest in La Masia comes as a boon.
One particular player from the subsidiary team who has been making ripples in recent teams in a certain Mikayil Faye, and the new manager will have a key role in deciding what the future has in store for the Senegalese centre-back.
Clashing ideas
As revealed in a recent report by SPORT, Faye’s future is one of the big decisions to be made this week. Needless to say, multiple options are being considered.
Barcelona’s sporting director Deco is said to be of the idea of promoting the player to the first team given his quality, and that would be the ideal solution for the club.
The team’s surplus centre-back options, however, render it difficult to bring in another player for the overstaffed position. After all, Ronald Araujo, Jules Kounde, Andreas Christensen, Pau Cubarsi and Inigo Martinez are all fighting for two spots as it stands.
Faye’s departure in June is thus not completely ruled out. In such a scenario, the Catalans do not wish to lose leverage over the player’s future and will thus sell him only with a repurchase option. There are numerous offers on Faye’s table as it stands.
Flick to decide
The options around Faye’s future are open, and the new manager Hansi Flick will have to make the final call on whether or not to ship the player this summer. A lot will depend on whether or not the club make big sales in defence next month.
The coming pre-season could also be critical in altering the manager’s decision over Faye, for it will give Flick his first chance to evaluate all his options first-hand.
Given his interest in honing young talents and providing them with the required stepping stones, it will not be surprising if Flick opts to sell an established centre-back and count on Faye in his place next season.
