Ansu Fati's Brighton chat, Xavi's promise and why Barcelona rejected Man Utd bid
Ansu Fati has broken so many records and suffered so much pain in his short career that it is important to remember he is aged just 20.
Born in Guinea-Bissau, his family moved to Spain in 2009 when his father was offered work by the mayor of Marinaleda – a small town in the province of Sevilla that is a self-declared "communist utopia." He came from a football family, his father Bori Fati was a footballer in his homeland while his older brothers Braima and Miguel also played at youth level and his older cousin Ença, a winger now playing in Saudi Arabia, spent a decade as a professional in Portugal.
After starring in local youth sides, Ansu was spotted by Sevilla scouts and, aged 10, was integrated into their youth system. A year later, Braima had been signed by Barca and the Catalan club signed Ansu the following summer – a common ploy by clubs to keep siblings together.
Ansu was special; swiftly gaining a reputation for lightning-sharp movement and deadly finishing. It is almost universal for Barcelona – a club renowned for the volume of youth stars who they produce through their La Masia youth system – to embed their most promising youngsters into their B team, who compete in Spain’s regionalised third tier, to experience senior football. Notably, Ansu skipped this step entirely – being elevated straight into the first team squad, aged 16.
Sixty-seven days before his 17th birthday, Barcelona handed Ansu his debut – the youngest player to represent the first-team since Vicenc Martinez in 1941. A week later, he became Barca’s youngest ever scorer when he netted in a draw at Osasuna. People were sitting up and taking notice. This kid was fearless and he was deadly.
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The records kept falling; he swiftly became the youngest player to score and assist in a Spanish top-flight match, established himself as the youngest scorer in both the Champions League and El Clasico. He became Spain’s youngest player in 85 years and the nation’s youngest ever scorer. So prolific was Ansu, he scored 11 goals with the first 16 shots of his senior career.
There was no doubting he was a generational talent who could potentially become an elite player, with his goal scoring rate continuing with five goals in his first ten appearances in the 2020/21 campaign. But disaster struck in a league match against Real Betis that November, when an innocuous incident led to Ansu tearing the meniscus in his left knee.
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Ansu Fati has endured a frustrating few seasons at Barca (Getty Images)It was not just the injury itself that was problematic but the medical response. He underwent multiple surgeries over the following months but the treatment was unsuccessful, with his knee continuing to swell up and causing the player such discomfort that he was unable to sleep for long periods with a limited range of movement.
Ansu had to wait 10 months before being able to return to action but was fit enough to start just four matches the following campaign with continued muscular setbacks. For the 23 months after sustaining his initial injury, he started just three league matches.
By that stage, Barca had signed Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres – which saw Ansu fall down the pecking order. He did feature in 36 league matches last year but just a third of them were from the start. There was a growing sense he needed a fresh start in a different environment to re-find what he needed: regular game-time.
Tottenham and Chelsea had both been in talks to sign the forward but he is now poised to join Brighton on a season-long loan deal. There is late interest from Sevilla in a similar structured deal, but a conversation with Seagulls boss Roberto de Zerbi over the phone has motivated the forward to make the move to England’s South Coast.
He was also linked, perhaps somewhat speculatively, with their arch-rivals Real Madrid earlier this summer. When that possibility was put to Xavi, he fumed: "This is a joke, isn’t it? I have already been very blunt about Ansu. Debates are being generated that make no sense. Ansu is an important player and is part of the club’s heritage, now and in the future."
Those comments from the Barca boss sum up his thoughts on the player and his belief that he still had a role to play at the club. Indeed, two years ago Catalan publication Mundo Deportivo claimed that Manchester Utd made a bid worth €150million (£128m) for Ansu but ‘then-president Josep Maria Bartomeu flatly refused to sell’.
With so many ups and downs in his short career, Ansu is now hungry to test himself in a new environment and showcase his true potential with a prolonged run of matches.
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