Man Utd and Tottenham have learned the fate of touted summer moves for a Barcelona player who’s been the subject of two ‘guarantees’ in the past few days.
Fati, 20, has reportedly been left disappointed at his lack of match action at the Camp Nou this season. Fati remains one of Spain’s great hopes for the next decade, though his career at club level has stalled.
Indeed, Fati has been limited to just 11 LaLiga starts this term and has been sprayed around into an assortment of different positions by manager Xavi.
Arsenal and Liverpool have both been tipped to snare Fati away from Barca in order to give him more game time. More recently though, Man Utd and Spurs have been named as the main clubs pursuing him.
Fati’s father, Bori Fati, recently took aim at Barcelona for underusing his son.
“As a father I am angry, yes, like any father,” said Bori Fati. “Because seeing Ansu play so little makes you a little angry. I tell them that we deserve much more.
“Ansu when he played before getting injured, there was Messi, [Luis] Suarez, [Ousmane] Dembele, [Antoine] Griezmann.
“It bothers me that they give him a minute, two minutes or three minutes. The forwards that are there are phenomenal, but we are talking about Ansu Fati, from the Spanish national team, he is not just any boy. He’s a boy who left La Masía.
“If you don’t give him that, what are you going to give him? Ansu deserves much more, we’re talking about Barcelona’s number 10.”
That was followed by Fati’s agent, Jorge Mendes, recently guaranteeing Barcelona he’d secure them a €70m (approx. £61.75m) transfer fee for his client this summer.
However, despite the mounting speculation Fati will be on the move, new quotes from the player’s father have confirmed Fati will remain in Catalonia for the time being.
Bori Fati is understood to have met with both Barca officials and Jorge Mendes and in the immediate aftermath of that meeting, told reporters Ansu is “guaranteed” to be staying.
In quotes carried by Fabrizio Romano, Bori said: “Ansu will stay at Barcelona. That’s for sure. He stays, it’s guaranteed.”
Fati is under contract at Barca until 2027 and the club have options for an extra two years.
As such, Man Utd, Tottenham and any other interested party must turn their attention with regards to attacking reinforcements elsewhere.
