Ansu Fati, the Masia success story with offers on the table
The teenager exploded onto the scene with early season dazzling performances in the Barcelona shirt with Borussia Dortmund interested in his services.
“This lad is explosive!” This is how former Barça manager Ernesto Valverde described Ansu Fati in his first training session overseeing the teenager in action. From his first glimpses of the, then 16-year-old player, the coach knew he had a precocious talent on his hands. A player with incredible pace, an ability to take players on and a keen eye for goal, Fati offered the former Barcelona coach an alternative to complement established strikers, Leo Messi, Luis Suárez and Antoine Griezmann.
Fati's evolution was thwarted with a lack of match time and the halt forced on the game by the coronavirus pandemic and the interest in Fati from Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund has not been badly received at Camp Nou aware that the German side are specialists in forging young talents through first team playing time. The likes of Haaland, Pulisic, Demebélé and Jadon Sancho have all blossomed in Dortmund and Fati has been identified as a potential candidate to wear the famous yellow shirt next season.
Fati Faith
The Catalan club still retain the utmost faith in the 17-year-old and although the details of a potential offer from Germany are yet to be explored, the view is that a season playing at the top level in Germany and participating in the Champions League with Dortmund would stand the player well in his development.
The return of Luis Suarez from injury and Quique Setién relying less on the player as the season wore on would also provide Fati and his entourage with grounds to consider a loan spell away from Barcelona and view a move away as an opportunity to secure constant first team action and a chance to fulfil the promise and talent the young player clearly has.