Barcelona have set a €30 million price tag for any club to acquire the services of Ansu Fati at the end of the season, as per Catalan sports daily SPORT. The winger is currently on a season-long loan at Brighton & Hove Albion.
A product of Barcelona’s famed youth academy La Masia, Fati announced himself to the footballing world in the 2018-19 season. He became the second-youngest player and youngest goalscorer in Barcelona at the time, before new boy wonder Lamine Yamal overtook both records.
Fati fell out of favor with Barca manager Xavi last season and moved to Brighton on loan at the start of the campaign in search of more game time.
He had a sprightly start, performing well off the bench in the Premier League and Europa League. Fati has contributed four goals and an assist in 15 games across competitions for the Seagulls.
However, a calf strain kept him sidelined for an extended period, with the youngster only returning to action last weekend against Crystal Palace.
Barcelona would not be opposed to the idea of selling Fati in the summer. Although there have been no doubts about the 21-year-old’s quality, he hasn’t proved himself at the top level during his loan at Brighton so far.
It might be difficult for him to break into the Barca setup, especially with a new manager set to take charge at the end of the season.
Barcelona have not completely shut the door on a potential return but would prefer to part ways with Fati if an offer worth around €30 million was on the table.
Barcelona youth coach defends himself after comments about replacing Xavi
Barcelone Atletic’s manager Rafael Marquez has defended himself after stirring up controversy with his comments about replacing Xavi.
With names like Hansi Flick, Thomas Tuchel, and Imanol Alguacil being floated as Xavi’s successor, Marquez’s name was unexpectedly missing.
Under Marquez, the youth team has been very mediocre, and nothing that would explicitly suggest his coaching qualities. However, he had said that managing Barca is “a chance you can’t turn down”, which resulted in a lot of fan backlash.
After Atletic’s 1-1 draw against Logrones, Marquez spoke to Mundo Deportivo and defended his statements.
“There is no need to explain it, the people who know me, my friends, know about my values, about the person I am,” he said.
He reaffirmed that he was solely focused on the job at hand, adding:
“I try not to see news, I’m happy doing my job, learning a lot, enjoying with the boys.”
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