Another FC Barcelona star is set to leave the club in the January transfer window according to SPORT and Ole, which both cited anonymous sources.
The big news in Catalonia before the weekend is that Dro Fernandez told Hansi Flick he will switch employers because a then-unnamed outfit ready to trigger his $7 million release clause.
On Saturday, Mundo Deportivo and L’Equipe then revealed that said club is Paris Saint-Germain, which will sign the teenager on a four-and-a-half year deal until mid-2030 much to Flick’s fury, after having promoted the Dro from La Masia to the first team.
“Things happen in football. You may disagree, but they are 18-year-old, adult players who make decisions. And there are adults who can incite them… I’ve said enough,” Flick first remarked at a prematch press conference to preview Sunday’s tie with Real Sociedad.
The German then had a stern warning when it comes to youth academy players and their entourages: “I want to say to La Masia players. We are Barça. Here you can grow, train with the best players, get full support”.
“If you want to play at Barça, then 100% with your whole heart. You have to live for Barça colours. All the others, I do not want,” Flick stated.
But this doesn’t apply to the FC Barcelona player in question
Yet this doesn’t apply to Mamadou Mbacke Fall, the FC Barcelona player that is also set to leave the club in the January transfer window.
Joining the reserve team Barca Atletic from Los Angeles FC in 2024, the Senegalese defender looks set to return to the MLS.
That is where Salt Lake City are interested in his services, and Mbacke should leave in the next few days despite having offers in Italy and Spain.
He will do so having made 29 appearances for the reserves, while struggling to progress to Flick’s first team.
Defense is a difficult position to break in FC Barcelona’s first XI
With the likes of Pau Cubarsi, Ronald Araujo, Eric Garcia and Gerard Martin in his way, it was always going to be difficult for Mbacke to break through to the first team where Inigo Martinez was also a permanent fixture last term.
Notching two years’ experience in Europe at FC Barcelona, however, that looks good on his CV and puts Mbacke in good stead to return to the continent one day given a relatively young age of 23.