Karpaty Lviv have completed the signing of Gambian centre-forward Baboucarr Faal from Ukrainian Premier Liga rivals Rukh Lviv, in a deal worth €500k and marking the latest step in the 22-year-old’s rapid rise in European football.
The move, registered as a permanent transfer within the Ukrainian top flight, installs Faal immediately as a Karpaty player and removes any uncertainty over his short-term future. His contract with Karpaty Lviv runs from 2026-02-07 to 2029-06-30, ensuring the club secure one of the league’s more promising young forwards through the prime years of his career. With a current market value listed at €700k, the agreed €500k fee represents a significant investment but still leaves potential resale value for the Lviv side.
Faal switches across the city after a one-year spell at Rukh Lviv, where his stock rose notably during the 2025 calendar year. Before arriving in Ukraine, he had built his reputation in Croatia with HNK Orijent Rijeka, following his first move abroad from Hawks Banjul FC in The Gambia. That pathway has taken him from the Gambian domestic game to the Croatian leagues and now into a stable role in the Ukrainian Premier Liga, underlining a steady pattern of upward mobility.
Born in Banjul and standing 1.87 m tall, Faal is an attack-focused centre-forward who prefers his left foot and is listed primarily as a central striker. His market value progression reflects his development: from €200k at Orijent Rijeka in mid-2023 to €350k by the end of that year, then rising again to €450k in late 2024 and finally reaching €700k during his time with Rukh Lviv in December 2025. Those steady increases coincide with his successful adaptation to European football and particularly to the intensity of the Ukrainian top flight.
The transfer also continues a clear geographic and competitive trend in his career. Having left Gambian football for Croatia and then moving on to Ukraine, Faal is consolidating his place abroad rather than returning to his home country’s leagues. His presence in the Premier Liga keeps him competing at a higher-profile European level, far from Banjul but firmly within a league that can act as a springboard to even more prominent competitions.
Faal’s previous club record highlights a player who has already experienced three different football cultures by the age of 22: the domestic Gambian scene with Hawks Banjul FC, the Croatian system with HNK Orijent Rijeka, and now the Ukrainian Premier Liga with both Rukh Lviv and Karpaty Lviv. That variety of environments, combined with his age and market trajectory, helps explain why Karpaty were prepared to commit to a multi-year contract starting on 2026-02-07 and running until 2029-06-30.
With the deal now confirmed, attention will turn to how quickly Faal can translate his promise into consistent output for Karpaty. If he continues the upward curve that has pushed his valuation to €700k, this intra-league move could prove decisive in shaping his reputation as one of The Gambia’s more notable exports and a long-term attacking asset in Ukrainian football.
