Barcelona want Ansu to succeed at Brighton so they can sell him high

Stuart Telford

• 1 Oct 2023 13:58 BST
• 3 min read

Barcelona have no intention of folding Anu Fati back into their squad even if he is a roaring success on loan at Brighton, according to reports in Spain.

It wasn't so long ago that Ansu was regarded as La Masia's brightest academy star since Lionel Messi, and he had a highest ETV of €41.8 million in December 2021 per FootballTransfers' in-house algorithm.

But he fell behind Raphinha, Ousmane Dembele and Ferran Torres in the picking order of wingers at Camp Nou last season, and although Dembele has since left for Paris Saint-Germain, Lamine Yamal's emergence has since plugged that gap.

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Ansu rejected a permanent move to Wolves in the summer that would have seen Ruben Neves move the other way in part-exchange, and there is no clause to make his move to Brighton permanent at the end of the campaign, with the player determined to keep a link to Barca.

Ansu 'in high demand'

The winger scored his first Brighton goal as they were thrashed 6-1 by Aston Villa on Saturday, but his parent club intend to sell regardless.

"Barca have another difficult summer ahead in terms of their salary limit," reports Diario Sport's Luis Miguelsanz. "Transfers are the best way to lift this and Ansu Fati will leave if a suitable offer arrives.

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"At Barca, they hope Ansu continues to grow [at Brighton] because if the loan works out he is a footballer who could be in high demand on the transfer market."

The 20-year-old is currently valued at €36.3m by FootballTransfers, and there is speculation he could be used as a makeweight to make Joao Felix's loan to Barca from Atletico Madrid permanent at the end of the campaign.