From 'next Messi' to loan flop: Barcelona transfer-list wonderkid

Tom Weber

Updated: 26 Mar 2024 10:02 GMT
3 min read

Xavi, Barcelona — © IMAGO/FootballTransfers

Barcelona have transfer-listed Ansu Fati, according to Spanish media.

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The exciting winger is spending the season out on loan at Brighton in the Premier League. However, in keeping with his form in recent campaigns, the 21-year-old has underwhelmed and also struggled with fitness problems.

A calf injury kept him sidelined for quite a while in what was just the latest in an already long list of severe injuries suffered in his still-young career. Fati has gone from being the heir apparent to Lionel Messi at Barcelona to being deemed a loan flop at Brighton.

The youngster has notched four goals and an assist so far for the Seagulls, but this is evidently not good enough from a player once deemed a generational talent. Barcelona, it seems, are ready to cut their losses.

After already being linked with a permanent exit last summer, Fati really does appear to be on his way out this time around.

Fati transfer-listed

According to Sport, Barcelona have decided that they are willing to cash in on the 21-year-old attacker in the summer. The report outlines that the cash-strapped Catalans are trying to raise as much as €200 million from sales this summer and that Fati could be one of the players sacrificed to that end.

This comes mere days after president Joan Laporta pompously announced that the Blaugrana were on the road to financial recovery and that he rejected a €200m bid for Lamine Yamal and would also rebuff approaches for other key players.

Laporta claimed that Barcelona could have raised up to €1 billion in sales of key players recently but chose not to. If anyone needed more convincing that this was nothing more than a PR exercise, this fresh report will certainly cast major doubt on Laporta's claims.