The question of Ansu Fati future has been posed to Barcelona, who, through Deco, have responded.
The forward who was once touted as the heir to Lionel Messi at Barcelona hit a rough patch in his career just after his 18th birthday. He tore his meniscus in the 2020/21 season, his second season (and first full season) with the Barcelona senior team. The injury kept him out for a total of 305 days, making him miss the whole season which was supposed to be his breakout year.
Barcelona still believed in him enough to hand him the number 10 jersey when Messi left the club in 2021/22. However, the mental and physical condition of the Guinea-Bissau-born Spanish forward never was the same.
Never for once did Barcelona give up on him but the club had to move on because of their goals. And so, even when Fati was fit enough to play, he was no longer number one. Barcelona’s number 10 had to play second fiddle to players whose mental state and fitness were much better while the club tried to manage expectations with him.
In the end, both the club and player agreed that a loan move elsewhere would do his confidence and physicality some good. Brighton and Hove Albion was chosen out of the many suitors for the then-20-year-old player and so far, the choice has proven right.
After struggling to break into the team at the beginning, Roberto De Zerbi now makes it a point of contact to give Fati minutes in every game for the last eight Brighton matches in all competitions.
He has repaid that faith with four goals and an assist and is now looking like the Fati that took the world by storm in 2019/20, which was enough for Barcelona to crown him Messi’s heir with the fans’ blessings.
Barcelona, however, look to have found a solution without Fati. He is still highly rated at the club but it looks like he will not be getting too many opportunities if he returns. This has now brought the discussion of his future into question.
Speaking on behalf of the club, former Barcelona midfielder and current sporting director Deco, has now explicitly stated that the forward will return to the club after his time at Brighton.
“Of course Ansu Fati can return here, he’s on loan to Brighton. He’s young, he’s happy now,” said Deco to journalists in a recent quizzing. “I think Brighton was a good choice to play regular football. We’re following his progress. It’s up to his performances. But Ansu could return to Barcelona, for sure.”
The use of the words “can” and “could” leaves room for the club to do otherwise, however. Fati, on the other hand, is not looking to leave Barcelona permanently.
It remains to be seen what the club will do with the 21-year-old, who is returning to his best self – with a few new tricks – under De Zerbi in England.
