Sporting has Souleymane Faye, 22 years old, in its sights to reinforce the team in this winter transfer market window and negotiations are underway. From Spain come echoes of a Leonine proposal with values in the order of 10 million euros. However, A BOLA found that this is the amount requested by the emblem of the second division of the neighboring country, with the administration of the green and whites intending not to go much more than half of that figure. In other words, the Lions set aside 5.5 million euros, a little more, to sign the Senegalese international.
Luís Guilherme has already arrived, Faye can arrive. This is Sporting’s January, with one winger already guaranteed and one still to be secured. But if the investment by the Brazilian is 14 million euros plus 3 million in bonuses that could inflate the operation to 17 million in the future (see page 13), for the Senegalese there is less to invest.
In the last two seasons, Souleymane Faye was with Betis B and moved to Granada last summer, for 500 thousand euros — Talavera, the club where the winger played in 2022/2023, maintains 50 percent of the economic rights.
Despite playing in the 2nd division of the neighboring country, the talent demonstrated in the meantime already puts him on the radar of important clubs, contributing to his valorization, and Sporting, despite not wanting to reach the value already indicated by Granada, is committed to signing the Senegalese, in an operation that in recent times has been common in Alvalade: betting on players from the second highest European levels, as was the case with Gyokeres, signed in the Championship from Coventry, or Luis Suárez, rescued from Almería, and even Kochorashvili, to Levante, also last summer.
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With Luís Guilherme, who can play on both wings but is essentially a right-winger, being a bet for the immediate future but also for a future with Geovany Quenda at Chelsea, Faye’s arrival will be to meet current needs with the biggest investment being reserved for the summer… A right-handed winger to play from the left has long been Sporting’s most desired desire. Yeremay Hernández, from A Coruña, has long been the target but Depor, fighting to return to LaLiga, is not a seller and last summer refused the €25 million plus €5 million in bonuses that the Lions proposed.
Now, the green and whites would need to go beyond €40 million and even then there is no guarantee of sale from the Galician club, which is in very good sporting and… financial health. Therefore, this amount is reserved for 2026/2027, with Faye moving forward this winter.
While the move to Alvalade is not yet finalized, Souleymane Faye continues to play a prominent role at Granada. This Saturday, in the defeat of Nasrids against Almería, 2-3, the winger returned to Pacheta’s starting eleven and was in action for 75 minutes, only leaving in the final stretch of the match. It was the Senegalese’s 19th game as a starter this season.
