It was September 2019 and Ansu Fati didn’t need publicity, on the contrary. Barcelona’s communications department advocated for the youth-team player to keep a low profile. They had their reasons. The first time he went up to train with the first team, Ansu Fati scored four goals in front of the eyes of strikers with succulent pedigrees such as Messi, Luis Suárez, Griezmann and Dembélé. To avoid a possible attack of jealousy from the team’s stars, the Blaugrana decided to avoid uploading Ansu Fati’s actions during training on social media.
Five years and a long road of injuries have passed since that tear in his left knee in November 2020, a total of 13 that sent him to spend 644 days in the infirmary and miss 125 games. It happens that now the club’s response to Ansu Fati’s performance is exactly the opposite: they are trying to promote him. This Thursday, before the match against Monaco, Barça posted the shirt with the number 10 inherited from Messi on social media. His return to the first team squad after his failed loan to Brighton (two goals in 19 matches) was to be celebrated. And no one is moving from the script, Ansu is pampered from all levels of the club. His past as a star youth player and the current poor form of the squad justify the decision.
As had already happened in the summer of 2023, on the last day of the transfer market the club’s sporting management also looked for an exit for Ansu Fati. The problem was that his high salary and his irregular performance in the Premier League did not offer the best prospects. Hansi Flick, attentive to the evolution of the market in order to put together the squad, began to closely follow Ansu Fati. And he spoke about his situation with the sporting director, Deco; also with Bojan, the Brazilian’s collaborator, who was in charge last year of travelling to Brighton to closely follow Ansu Fati’s work. Without economic solutions beyond the signings of Dani Olmo and Pau Víctor, Barcelona’s football department decided to give Ansu a new opportunity at 21 years of age and, instead, open the doors to Vitor Roque, currently at Betis (one goal in three games). “We have to help Ansu come back stronger,” commented Flick.
The player’s entourage claims that he is “very motivated.” A statement that is corroborated by sources at the Ciudad Deportiva. “He has been training alone and is very focused. During the international break he worked hard to return to the squad,” says a club employee. However, there are those who think that the emotional strain that Ansu Fati has experienced in recent years, in addition to an environment considered harmful, are not helping him to recover his competitive voracity.
Flick, on the other hand, is confident, although he does not want to rush his return. And that is despite not having much time on the bench. Against Monaco, for example, the German coach only looked at the substitutes when he understood that the match was already decided in Monaco’s favour and that he had to take care of his boys’ strength for this Sunday’s match against Villarreal. “The changes were not late,” said Flick after the first player to be substituted was Cubarsi in the 79th minute. “We defended with a lot of passion and we had opportunities,” he added. Ansu Fati was the last to come on the field, in the 88th minute. The striker did not have enough time to show his fitness, but he did have time to receive public support from his coach, who hugged him affectionately at the end of the match.
“He has really good quality. I saw him last week and I had also seen him when we started pre-season. He looks really good, different to when I was with him at Brighton,” the coach revealed about his visits to the south of England last season, when he had already closed his deal with Barcelona. “Here he is totally different. He is focused, he is more intense on the pitch during training,” he added. “But,” concluded Flick, “I think he needs some time now. We are worried about him because it is important that the players can play and not get injured again.”
Ansu Fati wants to rediscover his football. Without the glamour and political and institutional weight of Messi, Suárez and company, and with Barcelona’s short-staffed squad, the striker has a new opportunity. One more. Flick believes in his talent, and so does the club. What is not known is whether he believes in him too.
