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The comments made by Ansu Fati’s father, Bori, who says he’d like his son to leave Barcelona, have lit the blue-touch paper around an issue that has been bubbling away for some months now. Fati Sr’s incendiary statements, which came in an interview with the Spanish radio station Cadena COPE this week, have gone down very badly at a club that already has plenty of fire-fighting to do.
Ansu unhappy at current Barcelona role
A Barça prodigy who broke several age records when he graduated to the first team at 16, Ansu is under contract until 2027 – having been handed a major extension in 2021 – and was given Lionel Messi’s No. 10 shirt after the club great’s departure two summers ago. However, the Spanish international isn’t getting as much as game time as he’d like, and is becoming increasingly dejected.
It was a similar story at last year’s World Cup. The 20-year-old was over the moon when he made Luis Enrique’s Spain squad after a late run for inclusion, but he grew despondent when he was restricted to a bit-part role in Qatar.
Just six goals for Barça this season
At Barça, Ansu has made 38 appearances this season, but has started just 11 times. He has scored a mere six goals – with only one coming in a game he started – and his spirits are low right now. He has lost confidence, and we’ve only seen glimpses of his ability this term (chiefly in the LaLiga win away to Real Sociedad in August, and the Spanish Super Cup semi-final victory against Real Betis in January).
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Ansu’s close circle pushing forward to Barça exit
Despite his current struggles, Ansu is still eager to be a success at Barça, the club where he learned his trade and made his name. However, his camp is urging him to leave. They feel that Barça boss Xavi Hernández isn’t giving him the minutes he deserves, and that the club’s coaching team have doubted his physical capacities ever since his refusal to go under the knife to remedy a hamstring injury in January 2022. Xavi and his medical staff believed that the player needed to travel to Finland for surgery by the renowned specialist Lasse Lempeinen, who also operated on club-mates Ousmane Dembélé and Sergi Roberto. Instead, Ansu opted for a conservative course of treatment.
Barça’s sporting director, Mateu Alemany, has told Ansu’s father that his son remains a major asset – a clear indication that the club wouldn’t let him leave on the cheap. But as much as the player wants to stay with the 26-time Spanish champions, the scenario is complicated by the fact that Xavi cannot guarantee him regular game time. Some within the club are in favour of offloading a player who has failed to rediscover the form he showed before suffering a major knee injury in November 2020. It would be a risky sale, though: were Ansu to excel at his new club, Barça chiefs would face severe recriminations from the Blaugrana fans.
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Ansu loan move to get back to his best?
It’s eminently possible that Barcelona could opt for a loan deal, with Ansu spending a season at another Champions League club in a bid to recapture his best form. The youngster could then return to the Camp Nou and fight once more for the kind of first-team role that he isn’t getting this year. Right now, however, all that’s certain is that Barça have yet another blaze to put out.
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