Arsenal, Dortmund interested in 19-year-old Barcelona defender for the summer – report

Barcelona have stumbled across a rather special set of defenders in their team over the last couple of seasons.

With Ronald Araujo already performing at an incredibly high level, and consistently so, the addition of Jules Kounde, Andreas Christensen, and now Inigo Martinez to the team has done wonders for the defensive depth, at least on paper.

The emergence of Pau Cubarsi has been rather spectacular, as well, with the Spaniard being hailed as the best ball-playing centre-back at the club by Xavi.

All this while not even having to rely on 19-year-old defensive stalwart Mikayil Faye. Brought in from just €2.2 million in the summer of 2023, the Senegalese has already nailed a starting spot with Barcelona Atletic, and is knocking on the door of the first-team.

He has been one of the best performers for Atletic this season, and has even scored two goals in his last two games for the club in 4-0 and 3-1 wins against Cultural Leonesa and Rayo Majadahonda, respectively.

His stock has been rising, and Barcelona even rejected an offer worth €9 million from Lens, who wanted to integrate the youngster into the first team in the winter.

According to Mundo Deportivo, there are several top clubs keeping tabs on Faye, and could pursue his signing in the summer, including Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund. However, they will have to shell out nearly €15-20 million for his services.

Ligue 1 sides Nice and Lille could also be in the race, with Lens still monitoring his situation at Barcelona.

The club wants to raise at least €100 million in revenue in an attempt to return to the 1:1 rule in La Liga and could offload at least one centre-back in the summer, with Jules Kounde and Andreas Christensen in the firing line.

Chadi Riad has been linked with a return to Barça, but they will have to shell out €7 million to sign him this summer. Faye could be a better bet for the blaugranes in this financially tiresome time.