How Lionel Messi’s successor became a problem child

Ansu Fati once carried the hopes of an entire club on his shoulders. But the dream of Messi’s legacy at FC Barcelona could end soon.

The tears after leaving Lionel Messi had only just dried when a new era began at FC Barcelona. In the summer of 2021, the Argentinian’s era at Blaugrana came to an end, probably the best player in the club’s history said goodbye to a club that was staggering financially towards the abyss and for which a new contract with its exceptional player was no longer affordable. A fresh start on all levels was needed.

President Joan Laporta had just started his second term with the Catalans a few months earlier and was faced with a colossal mess left behind by his predecessor Josep Maria Bartomeu. A completely overpriced squad and debts in the billions, mainly caused by grotesque transfer fees and salaries, drove Barça to the brink of bankruptcy. The former world association had suddenly become a restructuring case. What does a club need at such a moment? Sure, money. But until that is there, it needs symbolic power.

This is where a certain Ansu Fati came into play. The then 18-year-old had already taken the hearts of Barça fans by storm and set various records. At the age of 16 years and 10 months he became the club’s youngest goalscorer, further records the child prodigy set: youngest goalscorer in the Champions League and a few months later also in the Spanish national team.

Fati was not only reminiscent of Messi because of his penchant for records. Both went through the legendary youth school La Masia for many years, Fati even came to the club at the age of nine. While Messi was born in Argentina, Fati was born in Guinea-Bissau. His father initially looked for work in Portugal and Spain, but the family eventually settled near Seville. Ansu’s older brother Braima was the first to make the move to FC Barcelona, ​​with Ansu following a year later.

How practical, then, that after the original Messi you now had a new Messi in the ranks – that’s apparently the thoughts of Laporta and his colleagues. So for the 2021/22 season, Fati symbolically got the Argentinian’s shirt number ’10’, which Messi had developed into a sanctuary.

You have to know that the regulations of the Spanish league do not allow you to simply leave the number vacant for a certain period of time. The professional squad must be numbered from 1 to 25 and only in this range. Numbers beyond this are intended exclusively for youth players who have not signed a professional contract. The fact that Fati was chosen to replace Messi when it came to the shirt number was a clear sign to the outside world. Look, this boy is our future!

Ansu Fati: From child prodigy to problem child

About a year and a half later, what was once a promise for the future has become a problem child of the present. The Ansu Fati anno 2023 has little to do with the record-breaking child prodigy of yore. Several serious injuries slowed down the striker’s development. When Fati succeeded Messi in the summer of 2021, he had already endured a long period of suffering.

It all started with a meniscus injury in November 2020, which was originally supposed to result in a four-month downtime. Not pretty, but still bearable. But it did not stop. Two more operations followed, and he didn’t return until September 2021 – and scored directly on his comeback. On October 20th, Barça finally announced the extension of the contract with the top talent, the worries seemed forgotten. Two consecutive hamstring injuries eventually put Fati out of action from November 2021 to April 2022. Unforgotten when Fati had to be replaced injured on his first comeback in January and had to be consoled by coach Xavi, completely upset.

Fati is now fit, but only a second choice at Barça this season. It is used in almost every game, but almost never for more than 90 minutes. Most of the time, Xavi only brings him up as a joker. And that bothers the now 20-year-old noticeably. “I won’t lie. It’s true that I expected to play more,” Fati vented his frustration in an interview with Mundo Deportivo during the World Cup in Qatar. Newcomers like Raphinha have complicated the situation for Fati, recently even top talent Gavi was called up on the wing and preferred to him.

And where there are frustrated players, rumors of a farewell are not far away. Adviser Jorge Mendes is said to have been looking for a new club as early as autumn. And now it seems to be getting more specific. FC Bayern Munich, so it reported Sports worlddeal with a transfer of the Spanish international.

Coach Julian Nagelsmann is a great admirer, the record champion is currently even in pole position in the race for Fati. But would he even fit in Munich? Fati’s sporting home is on the left wing, but he can also play in the center of attack if necessary – as he did recently at Barça during Robert Lewandowski’s three-game ban. There, however, he only knew how to convince to a limited extent, and at first glance the Munich team would have needed it more in the center than on the outside.

Ansu Fati to Bayern? Long gone from utopia

However, Bayern’s wingers have recently lacked consistency. Serge Gnabry, Leroy Sané, Kingsley Coman and Sadio Mané are in the squad but have never been a regular help this season for a variety of reasons – sometimes form, sometimes injuries, sometimes both. Unrest from actions off the pitch, such as Gnabry’s Paris trip, don’t make things any easier. The fact that sports director Hasan Salihamidzic publicly titled Gnabry with the unflattering attribute “amateur” could possibly make the German international doubt that his future lies in Munich.

Unlike in the past, when Bayern were not a candidate for transfers on this shelf, the signings of Matthijs de Ligt, Mané and most recently João Cancelo have also shown that Bayern are also becoming an increasingly attractive option in the race for the big names . Such transfers are no longer utopian.

However, Fati is under contract with Barça until 2027 and has a fixed release clause of one billion euros. Of course, no club in this world should want to pay this. But such sums are more likely to be seen in Spain, where release clauses are mandatory, as a safeguard for the Catalans to stay in control of transfer talks. But would Barça even be interested in selling?

The club also needs money next summer. The salary limit of the Spanish league continues to cause headaches for those responsible, and the club only fought for the registration of Gavi’s new contract in court. The income and expenses don’t match, so selling a player like Fati could help. Nevertheless, Barcelona should have no interest in selling off a homegrown product once presented as Messi’s successor. How good that there is the Premier League.

Because in addition to Bayern, numerous English clubs are said to have registered their interest. Manchester United and Arsenal are named first, but the big-buyer Chelsea shouldn’t be far away if there’s a chance of a big transfer somewhere. Should there be a betting between the clubs from the Premier League, Bayern could not keep up.

Ultimately, it’s also up to Fati himself how he assesses his future at Barcelona. While traveling to Saudi Arabia for the Supercopa in mid-January, Fati received praise from Xavi after his performance as a substitute in the semifinals against Real Betis. “Maybe it was my fault today, I should have brought him earlier. He’s a lot better since he came back from the World Cup, he makes the difference, works a lot and his attitude on defense has improved a lot. I would have him had to come on earlier, that was my fault,” he said. In the final against Real Madrid three days later, Fati played exactly one minute.

Ansu Fati at FC Barcelona: performance data as a professional