Barça and the player Youssoupha Fall have reached an agreement for the Senegalese center to stay for the 2025/26 season after signing a year contract extension. 

During his first season at Barça, Fall made 63 appearances, putting the collective before the individual. As a youngster in Senegal he was a big Barça fan and he wears the blaugrana jersey with pride. "Culers, I am really happy to be staying at Barça for next season. I will give my best for you and for the team," said Fall in a message from the Senegalese capital Dakar. 

Basketball general manager Juan Carlos Navarro said that Fall "has shown from day one that he wanted to play for Barça." 

"We have always considered him staying as he is very popular with his team mates and at the Club. For us it's vital to have players who really want to be here and make an effort to show that." 

Navarro went on to explain that Fall's extension has been affected by the process of building a squad. "The shape of the squad with Jabari Parker and other potential moves affected the structure of the team, in particular on the inside. As the week have gone by, we have been able to add Fall to the team and that is very satisfying for us." 

Fall is a perfect fit for the squad as according to Navarro "he gives us an important physical presence, difficult for opposing teams." 

"He fits in very well with Vesely who creates on the inside and opens the court up. With Willy as well who plays well with his back to the basket and on the pick and roll." 

Navarro also touched on the global market in the sport, in particular in Europe with a reduced number of players available. "Most young players are looking to play college basketball in the US; the NBA is quite a few levels above economically. The Euroleague has gone from 18 to 20 teams and there are some financially strong clubs as well the growing market in Asia and Australia." 

All this has a direct effect on the transfer market according to Navarro: "This mean that a lot of players who were set to leave their clubs end up staying, which also pushes up value and makes it more difficult to sign them. In Spain we are also limited to the number of foreign players we can have and that is another factor in filtering out players." 

 

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