I can’t remember many La Masia players who were as electrifying as Ansu Fati when they made their debut for Barcelona.
I remember saying to myself, how old is this kid? What audacity from a 16-year-old
to score on command like that.
Since then, other young Blaugrana stars have followed in his footsteps. Gavi was barely 17 years old, Pau Cubarsí was 16, and Lamine Yamal was a shocking 15 year old, when they first stepped onto the pitch at the Camp Nou.
Ansu Fati was also the first in a startling trend of young players picking up serious injuries that have held back their careers. Gavi is the player was has been sidelined the most, and at the most risk of not being able to get back to where he started when his career took off.
Pedri and Lamine Yamal, on the other hand, are players for whom we all hold our collective breath when they are on the field. They are essential to the future of the club, and they already have an injury history that has created anxiety for the manager and fans alike.
It’s hard when you believe you’ve identified the next big thing. You want to see them play, and make an impact in every game. It’s even harder to show restraint when you’re thinking wishfully that you’ve discovered a replacement to fill the shoes of Lionel Messi. But the laws of biology are shouting back, not so fast.
Ansu Fati is a unique case. He was never a physical specimen. Never the biggest, fastest, or strongest player on the field.
Yet still, he had something special that can’t be taught, and is increasingly hard to find in the world of football, a killer combination of hunger and instinct in front of goal.
It was emotionally exhausting to invest so much hope in one player. To wait months for them to recover from injury, only to see them sidelined again shortly after.
As fans, it’s easy to give up on a player like that. For managers, it’s very difficult to justify putting your confidence in them again.
But anyone with any ability to evaluate potential can’t completely write off Ansu. Even Hansi Flick must know that’s there a chance he’ll regret letting the talented young forward walk away. With Fermín López and Dani Olmo out, Ansu Fati would be a damn fine option at the moment.
The debate will be had whether some players are just injury prone, or if Barcelona is a club that is bad at protecting their players. The record isn’t good.
One thing we will all agree on is that if you’re Barcelona, with the best developmental academy in the world, you should also be investing in the best medical and training staff to nurture their growth from boyhood into their lives as mature professionals.
What we’ve seen over the past decade, however, suggests the club is falling woefully short.
Now, Monaco has a new manager in Sébastien Pocognoli, who would be crazy to not devise a gameplan around Ansu Fati, his star player at the beginning of the season.
Part of that plan should be to come up with a strategy to manage Ansu’s minutes over the course of League 1 and the Champions League.
Monaco will be able to purchase him permanently for just €11 million euros at the end of the season. This is a long term project, which should have been Barcelona’s attitude all along.
Looking ahead, La Masia will continue to giveth talent, but the football gods, or simply science if you prefer, won’t hesitate to taketh away if Barcelona isn’t responsible with how they manage their physical well being.
The future success of the club depends on getting this right.
For that, we should always remember the story of Ansu Fati as a cautionary tale.
And we should all be rooting for his sustained success in France. After all, there’s a €28 million euro buyback for Barcelona that can be triggered if the 22 year old shows the old magic again.
Welcoming Ansu Fati back, and seeing him reach his potential for the Blaugrana, would be an incredible, and perhaps not so improbable next chapter in his journey. Afterall, he’s a young player who is just now truly reaching adulthood.
Crazy to think about for someone who has already spent so many years in the limelight.
