FC Barcelona continues with its strong commitment to the African market. In this case, two footballers arrive from the Africa Foot Academy in Mali. One, Ibrahim Diarra, is already known in Barcelona, as he spent a trial period with the Barça team. Although his performance convinced Barça, his signing was not carried out because he was not of legal age. The second is Arouna Traoré, a powerful center forward.
Ibrahim Diarra, the great jewel of Mali
On this Wednesday morning, the African Foot Academy announced the flights of both footballers to Barcelona. The first of them was that of Ibrahim Diarra. This is a footballer who carried out trial training at the Barça facilities at the beginning of the year, alternating between the Juvenil team and Barça Atlètic. The feelings were very positive and the club was very satisfied with his performance, so they decided to sign him.
The problem was the age of the footballer. Because he was a minor, his signing could not be executed. Diarra will celebrate his eighteenth birthday on December 12 and, in the January market, his signing will materialize. The newspaper 'Sport' has announced that Barça is already beginning to prepare to carry out the necessary bureaucracy in the shortest possible time, thus preventing the boy from being unemployed.
During his testing period, Ibrahim stood out especially for his mobility and speed in all types of actions. Very offensive and vertical footballer. He is left-footed and his main position is right winger, although he can also play as a midfielder. Here is a compilation video of some of the young man's best plays:
Arouna Traoré, pure power and instinct of '9'
The other name announced this morning by the Malian football academy is Arouna Traoré. As happened with Ibrahim Diarra at the time, this 17-year-old center forward will be tested at Can Barça.
This is a footballer born in 2007, a generation that is bringing many promises to the world of football. He is 1.74 meters tall, right-footed and his main position is center forward although, according to Transfermarkt, he can also play on the left wing. He is a very powerful player, both in terms of his strength and his gallop. Likewise, he is very intense and has a great '9' instinct, which makes him a nightmare for rival defenses.
In this way, Barça has ensured that they have in their ranks one of the greatest jewels of the African scene and a forward with interesting conditions. They will share a dressing room at Barça Atlètic with David Oduro and Aziz Issah, two footballers who also come from the African market.