Brighton's Ansu Fati has gone from being a prodigy at Barcelona to almost a forgotten man - Guillem Balague takes a closer look at his journey.
The triumphs and setbacks enjoyed and endured by Brighton's new loan signing from Barcelona, Ansu Fati, are so many it is hard to believe the young winger-cum-striker from Guinea Bissau is just 20 years old.
Ansu has often paid tribute to his father saying that without his hard work and sacrifice neither he nor the family would have made it to Europe. At school, his inability to speak Spanish meant he was placed in a class with children a year younger. He only did when he returned from work late one night to find a group of neighbours and children at his door who told him: "Do you know what you have here? You have to see it."
But it was never going to be plain sailing. When Barcelona were given a transfer ban by Fifa in 2014 it meant Ansu was unable to play for six months. Then, aged just 12, he broke his tibia and fibula in a youth derby. He then scored his first international goal in his first start for Spain on 6 September 2020, netting Spain's third against Ukraine, making him at the time his country's youngest ever goal scorer, aged 17 years and 311 days.
When, the following day, he saw people waiting outside his house for pictures and autographs he realised that from now on he would be better off if he accepted his father's offer of a lift.Ansu Fati came off the bench in Barcelona's opening three La Liga fixtures of the season before moving on loan to Brighton
At first everything looked like normal service had been resumed. The reality was completely different.The day after sending Antoine Griezmann out on loan to get him off their wage bill, the club announced with great fanfare that Fati would be the proud wearer of the number 10 shirt worn by Messi for the past 15 years.
Further injuries would follow though, hamstring issues and fitness problems meant that from November until the end of April he missed another 33 games. The club demanded his goals, he wanted to lead, but his young body was struggling. Ansu began the campaign fully committed to establishing himself in the Barcelona side. All he needed was guidance from Xavi and his team. It just did not happen.
Ansu had no wish to leave Barcelona but in the end was left with no choice. What surprised most people is that from all the offers he had on the table he opted to join Brighton.Ansu Fati scored his first Premier League goal for Brighton in the 6-1 defeat against Aston Villa last weekend
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