FC Barcelona would hunt down the French pearl Mamadou Coulibaly.
FC Barcelona are stalking French teenage ‘pearl’ Mamadou Coulibaly in Monaco with a view to signing him, according to reports.
sport note Barca’s acquisition of youngsters such as Pedri and Ronald Araujo – who, contrary to popular opinion and the club’s sometimes misleading marketing, were not graduates of the prestigious La Masia academy which has also produced the likes of current first-team coach Xavi Hernandez and Lionel Messi, plus Gavi and Nico Gonzalez to name but a few – as proof that such ‘bets’ on wonderkids from elsewhere have gone down well lately time.
While Pedri cost a measly €5 million ($5.5 million) from Las Palmas in 2019, which could prove to be the deal of the century for a character set to become an all-time great, Araujo didn’t come much more from Boston River via an initial payment of 1.7 million euros ($1.9 million) and then 3.5 million euros ($3.9 million) in variables the previous year.
Racing Santander’s Pablo Torre also chose the Catalans over Real Madrid this month – in a deal worth 5 million euros ($5.5m) with variables potentially bearing the total spend of the operation at 20 million euros ($22m) – and has been described by Xavi as a “natural talent” who can “play in midfield, wide” and is “two-footed “while having “a nice final ball”.
Yet Barça’s reconnaissance mission continues and has would have led them to 17-year-old Monegasque gem Mamadou Coulibaly who also operates in the center of the park.
Even more interesting for the Blagurana is that unlike the other listed purchases, Coulibaly could arrive at Camp Nou for free, with his contract ending soon after he turns 18 in April.
Likened to Real Madrid’s Eduardo Camavinga, and a possible one-day partner or positional rival for the Angola-born sensation in the French national team, Coulibaly has also attracted interest from AC Milan, Manchester City, Juventus and Tottenham.
Barca have received ‘excellent’ reports of Coulibaly, who, if he travels to Catalonia this summer to change his allegiance, would first, like Torre and Araujo, occupy Barca’s B reserve team before moving on. prove himself worthy of a call-up to the senior group by a Xavi. set to welcome a more established player in AC Milan’s Ivorian midfielder Franck Kessi ahead of the new term.