It seemed to be a disappointment, but the inability to recruit Ansu Fati turned out to be a blessing for the Old Trafford team.
Mundo Deportivo recently published extremely interesting information about Ansu Fati. During the time when president Josep Bartomeu was in office, the Spaniard was contacted many times by Manchester United . Even the Red Devils are willing to spend 150 million euros to convince Blaugrana to let go. Of course, the Camp Nou home team refused.
That’s because at that time, Ansu Fati was seen as the successor to Lionel Messi at Barca. He owns a smart, technical game and confidently chooses the number 10 shirt left by the man. However, after what happened to Ansu Fati over the past 2 years, Manchester United should feel lucky to have escaped the “trick”.
In his first season for the first team, Ansu Fati scored 7 goals and provided 1 assist after only 24 games. At that time, the Spanish press and the fans were almost “crazy”, because it had been a long time since La Masia launched such a promising player. However, tragedy struck with Ansu Fati’s injury at the end of 2020.
Problems related to the knee and thigh muscles caused Ansu Fati to get used to the operating table. And for a young player, it’s a huge psychological blow and slows down the momentum. In fact, the contribution of young stars of Guinea-Bissau origin is less and less. In the 2021/22 season, he only appeared 15 times in all competitions.
It was not until the 2022/23 season that Ansu Fati stabilized again when he played 46 matches, scored 7 goals and had 4 assists. However, it is important that the striker born in 2002 is no longer himself. Experts describe Ansu Fati’s play as increasingly deadlocked, lacking confidence and no longer creating as many mutations as before the injury.
The 20-year-old player is no longer a priority for coach Xavi Hernandez. Accordingly, in the left wing position, the Barca captain often trusts Alejandro Balde or even Gavi. Therefore, the opportunity for Ansu Fati to play is not much. There are many reports that Blaugrana wants to sell Ansu Fati, although he was expected to become a new icon at the Camp Nou.
As for Manchester United, the Red Devils “avoid melon shells, meet coconut shells”. Failing in the Ansu Fati case, the Old Trafford team turned to Jadon Sancho with a contract of 85 million euros. However, the former Borussia Dortmund star also fell into a state of lack of confidence like Ansu Fati. In 74 matches, the England international has only scored 11 goals.
Up to this point, the left wing position remains a burning issue for Manchester United under coach Erik ten Hag. Perhaps, it is still a long time before the Red Devils can solve this problem, unless the leadership splashes money to bring in a high-class player.