Ansu Fati to Brighton is now a done deal, according to reliable journalist Fabrizio Romano. It’ll be a simple loan without a buy option. Club considers this move essential for the player’s development. The player also sees this move with good eyes. His agent Mendes, played an important part in making Brighton agree to pay a large part of his salary to help Barca in the FFP.
The Blaugrana #10 is not a regular starter in the team. Despite getting a breakthrough upsurge in 2019. Injuries had near about haunted his entire Blaugrana stint till now. The young Spaniard was even gifted the number 10 after the departure of the Greatest of All Time, Leo Messi, just to boost his confidence. But he failed to meet the expectations of the Camp Nou crowd.
Xavi was initially patient with him. But, eventually Xavi evolved a new kind of system where all the players were required to put in extra effort. That’s where Ansu lagged behind from the rest of the squad. His off the ball movement was good but with possession he seemed to have lost confidence. A player, who once could dribble 2-3 players at a time, is now even afraid to release a through ball. Xavi’s new system left no room for him. The diamond midfield meant, Gavi, his compatriot, would play as a hybrid winger/inverted midfielder.
Like every move, this move also has some positive and negative aspects.
On an optimistic note, we should be happy considering that De Zerbi would get the best out of Ansu Fati. With Brighton, he’ll also have a taste of European competition. Premier League has always been heaven for attackers. Many forwards, who have seemed to lost their confidence, have regained it in their PL spell. If he explodes, Barcelona will have him ready for the next season.
But, like positive aspects, it has some negative aspects too. With all due respect, he’s not expected to replace Mitoma in the starting 11 directly. He has to prove himself in the training to do so. He’ll face many competition within the Brighton squad for the starting front 3. If we consider the worst case scenario, Ansu Fati might even be getting lesser minutes, in comparison to Barcelona. And on top of that, if he fails to get his form back. He’ll arrive much more depreciated. In the next season at Barcelona. This might even lead the Catalan Giants to sell him. Ansu has to prove a lot to the world, to Xavi, to the Blaugrana hierarchy.
Barcelona and Brighton play a similar style of positional play of football with man to man pressing. They also have the box/diamond midfield in common. So, Ansu Fati needs to thrive in order to survive the hype created around him. He needs to perform well under De Zerbi to save his career. If he fails to do so, he’ll have even less suitors in the next season, in comparison to this season.
On the condition that the Blaugrana hierarchy decides to get rid of him. His salary makes it much more difficult for the La Liga teams to go after him. Since FFP haunts all the other teams in La Liga, except Real Madrid. His performance has not yet synced with the salary he has been receiving from the Blaugranas. So teams from the other leagues, might not yet consider him, “worth the investment.”
But the “Barca Buzz” team wishes Ansu ‘all the very best’ in his new journey. Hope he explodes well in the PL and reaches his potential. He has everything in place to do so. If his bombardment from the left flank starts, it’s near about over for all the PL right backs this season. Hoping the best for our lad, Ansu. May God give him enough strength to prove his doubters wrong. Hope he regains his form back and becomes the earlier version of him before the 2020 Real Betis Injury.
