Catalan giants FC Barcelona have added another talented young African player to develop at their reserve side Barcelona Atlètic (Barcelona B).
Mali youth national team midfielder and attacker Ibrahim Diarra will join the club in January and be assigned to Barcelona B after the Spanish La Liga side came to an agreement for the transfer of the 18-year-old from Malian club Academie Africa Foot. A star for Mali at the 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup, the announcement of Diarra's signing comes a few months after FC Barcelona and Academie Africa Foot agreed to a partnership.
Video: Video of Ibrahim Diarra with Mali U-17 and U-18 national teams
Diarra was one of the top performers at the 2023 U-17 World Cup in Indonesia where he captained Mali to a third place finish. Playing as a winger, Diarra accumulated an impressive five goals and four assists in seven matches at the competition. This came after he contributed three assists in five matches at the U-17 Africa Cup of Nations in Algeria during Mali's fourth place finish earlier that year.
FC Barcelona are increasing their efforts to find young African talent they can develop to either eventually incorporate into their senior team or to sell for a profit. Diarra's signing is the first product of the club's formal partnership with Academie Africa Foot, an agreement that will see the famous Spanish club contribute to facilities at the Malian club in exchange for first priority on the best talents produced by Academie Africa Foot.
After confirming the permanent signing of Senegalese defender Mamadou Fall following a loan from Major League Soccer club Los Angeles FC, Barca brought in Ghanaian duo David Oduro (from Accra Lions) and Abdul Aziz Issah (from Dreams FC).
The investment from Barcelona in African talent is already producing financial dividends for the club. 20-year-old central defender Mikayil Faye, a former Diambars player who made his debut with the Senegal national team in March, joined Barcelona from Croatian club NK Kustošija for €1.5 million in July 2023 and completed a season with Barcelona B before being sold to French Ligue 1 club Stade Rennais for €10.3 million in August this year.
Comments