Ricardo Faty

A professional football player of Senegalese decent, Ricardo Faty is a French-born player who stars in his role as a defensive midfielder. Born to a Senegalese father and a Cape Verdean mother, Ricardo had the option of playing for France, after being born in the country, a choice that he would later decline. He began playing at the youth academy in Clairefontaine, where the French football association has its own special training school.

He stayed there until 2002, moving to RC Strasbourg in 2004. After a couple of seasons in the youth academy, Faty made his debut for the first team in 2005. However, he would just play 7 times for the team, throughout the season, but still just 19 and a promising youngster, he moved to AS Roma in Italy. From 2006 to 2010, Faty was a part of AS Roma but spent a couple of seasons out on loan, first to Bayer Leverkusen in 2007 and then to FC Nantes in 2008-09.

While Faty’s stint at Leverkusen didn’t see him play too many games, France was better suited for him and he ended up playing over 40-times for Nantes. He returned to Roma to complete his contract but until the end of the contract, in 2010, he made only 19 appearances in the league. He ended up with the Coppa Italia from 2006-07, but played very little part on his own.