The Barcelona subsidiary and quarry are known for housing some of the brightest talents in football. Eagerly awaiting their respective opportunities, these players continue to bide their time. However, certain players in the Barcelona quarry are simply too good to be left there.
Typically, such players are the technically masterful midfielders or even forwards from the youth teams. It is much more uncommon to see defensive players impress so much that they catch the eyes of the first team. Pau Cubarsi managed to do it in a surreal fashion, but another may just be ready to follow in his footsteps.
Mikayil Faye, aged just 19, is already a revelation in the defensive folder of Barcelona Atletic. His defensive performances have been sublime, and he has even managed to attract attention from other clubs. Moreover, in a rather unorthodox fashion, he has his own unique streak going with Rafa Marquez’s team.
As highlighted by SPORT, the 19-year-old Senegalese defender currently has a three-game scoring streak at home. In the Primera Federacion, over the course of the last three home games, Faye has scored in each of them and has been key in disrupting the advances of their opponents.
The first came against Rayo Majadahonda on Matchday 24, and was the only one of the three scored without using his head. He was the first to score as well, putting the ball in the back of the net in the ninth minute. Then came a goal against Cultural Leonesa, once again the first of the game, with a well-placed header in the sixth minute.
His most recent contribution came against Sestao, and rather unsurprisingly by now given the trend, he opened the scoring once again with his header in the 29th minute.
In each of these appearances at home over the last three games, he has been the first to score. Moreover, he manages to do all this without even forgetting his defensive duties. After the game, Barcelona Atletic coach Rafa Marquez gave complimentary words for his 19-year-old sentinel as well:
“We know about his great potential, and I believe we are getting a lot out of him. He’s very good in attack with headers, and we are executing these set-piece actions well. Our job is to improve the players.”
All Faye awaits now is his opportunity with the Barcelona first team. He does seem to get called up regularly enough to first-team training sessions, but he is yet to play a single minute officially for the team.
While Pau Cubarsi has already excelled in that department, the young Senegalese defender will want to follow that same path at some point.
