Barcelona defensive gem’s future unclear even as Flick experiments with him in new position

The upcoming season was seen as the one where Barcelona youngster Mika Faye makes his first-team breakthrough after impressing with the reserve team last season.

The 20-year-old Senegalese starlet appeared set to leave the club for FC Porto, but the move came to a halt after June and it was suggested that the defender was set for an official first-team promotion.

However, Faye has barely featured during the pre-season for Barcelona, having had to deal with some physical issues which led to him missing the games against UE Olot and Man City.

However, the youngster did play a little under half an hour in the Clasico last weekend and came on as a late substitute against AC Milan last night.

Flick experiments with Faye

As has already been reported in the past, Barcelona manager Hansi Flick saw Faye as an option for the left-back position and wanted to test him in the position during pre-season.

Last night, against Milan, the German tactician did just that, as he replaced the impressive Gerard Martin with Faye at left-back in the 78th minute of the match.

The Senegalese international, who has shown a tendency to push forward from defence, displayed those attributes against Milan, trying to join in attack and even having a shot at goal.

Future still up in the air

Despite Flick seeing Faye as an option at left-back, SPORT reports that the young defender’s future at Barcelona still remains up in the air.

Barcelona have an overbooking of central defenders even though Ronald Araujo is out with an injury for the first half of the season.

Pau Cubarsi and Eric Garcia are at the Olympics and will be back soon, while Flick also has Jules Kounde, Andreas Christensen, and Inigo Martinez. Clement Lenglet has played a lot in pre-season but is still expected to leave.

Throw in the name of Sergi Dominguez, who has impressed on the US tour, and there is an abundance of options at centre-back, leaving Faye’s future hanging in the balance, especially considering that he hardly played in the past few matches.

The decision now rests with Flick and his staff and how they see things with the Senegalese prospect.