Barcelona standing firm on transfer demands for young defender, €15m fee being sought

In recent days, Barcelona’s transfer news has been dominated by one man: Mikayil Faye. The 19-year-old defender has looked nailed-on to leave the club this summer, with Porto being the leading candidates to sign him. However, an agreement at this stage appears far from straightforward.

Sporting director Deco has made the trip to Portugal to discuss terms with his former employers, and it appears that he has communicated Barcelona’s hard-line stance. As revealed by Fabrizio Romano, the Catalans will only accept a fee in the region of €15-16m, while they also want a deal to include a buy-back option and a sell-on clause.

Barcelona’s demands would make it very difficult for Porto to sign Faye, as due to financial issues, they can only afford to pay €5m, which is significant short of the valuation set by Los Blaugrana.

It remains to be seen how negotiations play out between Barcelona and Porto. The gap in valuation could bring other clubs into the mix – one of those could be Arsenal, who hold an interest in the Senegalese defender.