In 2021, it was a very happy Barcelona president who could keep his arm around Barca’s next big one. The teenager had just committed to six years at Barca, suitors were to be kept at bay with a fantasy-class buyout clause of €1 billion. Four years later, a French club can pick the same player for 22 million euros.
When Lionel Messi left Barcelona in tears in 2021 and embarked on a tragic stay at PSG, the Barcelona management was not slow to pass on the magic No. 10 number to Messi to the next player. An extreme symbolic effect on the part of the club, which quickly convinced the supporters that they would be fine without Messi. A similar symbol effect for the player who was assigned Messi’s shirt number. Barcelona are betting on you, boy. Four years later, this boy is pushing to leave Barcelona.
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Ansu Fati was picked up from Barcelona’s academy, La Masia, in 2019. The left winger quickly played his way into the first team. In the first season, Fati got playing time in a total of 33 games, and responded to the trust with 8 goals. Then came a season full of injuries, but 5 goals in 10 games showed the Spanish player had it big in him. Then followed another season of injuries, the No. 10 shirt unfortunately had no protective power.
In the 2022/23 season, Fati was back, but was given playing time crumbs by Xavi. This led to a loan spell in the Premier League with Brighton the following season, without success.
At Hansi Flick, Fati has hardly been on the pitch, less than 300 minutes of playing time. Raphinha and Lamine Yamal have totally taken over the show on the wings under the German coach. According to Spanish SPORT, agent Jorge Mendes is actively joibing to find a club for a permanent transfer, a new loan is out of the question for the 22-year-old.
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Sporting director Deca answered questions about Fati’s future at Barcelona.
-Each player decides for themselves what they want in their career – if he thinks he needs more minutes, then we talk about it. He is a player who has a contract with us, and we are happy with him. If he wants to take a step forward, we’ll have a chat,” Deco told Mundo Deportivo.
According to the Spanish media, Monaco see this as a great opportunity, with the Ligue 1 club in contact with the Fati camp for a transfer this summer. And the price of the player with a buyout clause of 1 billion euros? The Spanish media reports Barcelona are open to bids of 22 million euros.
A real “reality check” for Fati.
