Barcelona dressing room believes Ansu Fati will leave the club in the summer

Life comes fast at you, especially playing in European football. One minute you have the expectations of an entire city, and sometimes even a country riding on your shoulders, and the next you are deemed surplus to requirements.

Barcelona and some of their superstars in the past know this all too well. Bojan Krkic, Samuel Umtiti, Thiago Alcantara are just some of the names that are part of this rather heartbreaking list.

And now it seems a certain Ansu Fati could end up with the same fate as these aforementioned players.

The Spaniard broke out under Ernesto Valverde when Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, and Ousmane Dembele were struggling with injuries. He made a name for himself quickly, and was an undisputed started for Ronald Koeman, too, before picking up an ACL injury.

He has been in and out of the team since, largely due to injuries. To the extent that now in his third full season with the senior team, Fati is a mere backup in the team, and has played the full 90 minutes just once this season.

He has been rumoured with an exit, with Catalunya Radio reporting that the Barcelona dressing room has started to assume that Fati will leave the club in the summer transfer window.

The Bori Fati controversy

Fati’s place at the club has been made difficult by his own father, Bori Fati, and his agent, Jorge Mendes.

Both of them want him to leave the club to look for minutes elsewhere, with Mendes already given the green light to bring in offers worth at least €40 million in the summer. His father even publicly called out Barça and Xavi over a lack of minutes.

His comments in that interview understandably did not go down well with the club. Fati had to reportedly apologise to the dressing room after that.

Premier League interest

One of the driving forces apart from his entourage driving the exit links is that Fati is a wanted commodity in the Premier League. The likes of Manchester United and Newcastle United have already been in contact with the player’s entourage.

Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool are also interested, apparently, with Daily Express speculating that the former could be ready to break the bank to sign Fati.

Fati would also presumably get a higher salary and a heavy signing bonus from the Premier League should he choose to move.

Barcelona vice-president also confirmed in a press conference that Fati’s future is undecided and the final decision rests on several entities.

“I can’t guarantee that Ansu Fati will 100% stay because it doesn’t depend on me. There is a coach, a technical secretariat, and a director. They give the board of directors their message and their vision. What I can tell you is that today the coach counts 100% on him.”

Last limbs?

Despite so much interest from top clubs, Fati wants to succeed at Barcelona. Having climbed his way through La Masia, fighting injuries in the last few seasons for a spot in the first-team, the Camp Nou still remains his priority.

However, the Spaniard understands that his future at the club depends on what he does in the next ten matches before Barcelona’s season officially comes to a close.

So far, he has four goals and three assists in 26 appearances in the league. His was on target against Elche despite a rather unimpressive performance, and could not make the difference despite starting against Girona last weekend.

As Barcelona get closer to the La Liga trophy, fringe players are expected to get more chances as the season goes on, including Fati. He wants to take advantage of every minute and try to win his spot.