Manchester United, Inter Milan monitoring Barcelona defensive prodigy | OneFootball

Despite their severe underperformance this season, Barcelona still boast of one of the strongest defensive cores in European football right now. They proved it time and again last season, breaking several records en route to La Liga, and seem back in form now.

Ronald Araujo leads this group, with Jules Kounde and Andreas Christensen proving their mettle with their versatility, playing as a right-back and holding midfielder this season, respectively.

Inigo Martinez has added some much-needed experience, while words fall short of Pau Cubarsi’s incredible rise as the starting central defender at the club.

While this quintet has making a lot of noise this season, Barcelona Atletic seem to be producing an absolute belter of a centre-back, as well, in Mikayil Faye. And the youngster seems to be attracting a lot of attention already.

United join race for Faye

According to a report published by Daily Mail, Manchester United have joined the race for Faye ahead of the summer transfer window, but will face strong competition for his signature should Barcelona allow him to leave.

The report states that Bayer Leverkusen and Inter Milan are among teams that have been tracking the 19-year-old.

It had also been reported that Barcelona rejected offers worth €15-20 million for the centre-back during the winter transfer window, with Nice and Lens sending offers.

Both sides are expected to return to the bidding table in the summer, but will need to convince the player to join them over the other elite clubs pursuing him.

Tottenham Hotspur are also reportedly tracking his situation at Barcelona, and could be in with a bid in the summer.

Should Barcelona sell Faye?

Barça brought in Faye in 2023, hoping to replicate the Ronald Araujo formula. He was integrated in with the reserve side and has done exceedingly well already, and even scored a 30-yard belter on his Senegal debut this week.

The Catalans have reasonably big expectations from Faye already, and the player has been knocking on the senior-team door for a few months now.

However, with the centre-back position positively stacked, his chances immediately seem slim.

Further, with Barcelona in a delicate situation, financially, they could look to offload him for decent cash. There is always the option of including a buy-back clause in his contract, but that would potentially reduce the selling price.