“Ansu has everything to succeed.”
Leo Messi
It is no secret that Leo Messi is not particularly comfortable in front of microphones, but when he had to talk about Ansu Fati, he spoke from the heart. As if he saw himself reflected in him.
Image: Leo Messi embraces Ansu Fati after his debut against Betis / Source: Leo Messi
A hopeful kid taking his first steps at Barça… A few years earlier, Messi was living the exact same experience with Ronaldinho. He could perfectly imagine what was going through young Ansu’s mind.
Image: Ronaldinho and Messi celebrate the Argentine’s first goal for Barça / Source: FC Barcelona
In a way, Messi was publicly accepting him as his successor at Barça. But, wise from experience, he also spoke carefully to avoid spoiling that raw talent.
“Let him be brought in little by little, like they did with me. We cannot forget that he is 16 years old.”
His breakthrough was anything but gradual. He jumped straight into the first team without playing for Barça B, still a youth player.
From not even having proper boots to play football, as his Juvenil A coach Víctor Valdés revealed, to shining like few others at the Camp Nou.
At just 16 years and 300 days, he became the second youngest player to debut for Barça. It was August 5, 2019, against Real Betis, wearing the number 31 jersey with Ernesto Valverde on the bench.
Just six days later, he made history again: a spectacular goal against Osasuna at El Sadar made him the youngest ever Barça player to score in La Liga.
And then in the Champions League… Straight into the record books after giving Barça the win at the Giuseppe Meazza: Ansu became the youngest goalscorer in the history of the competition.
His qualities were brutal: dribbling, one-on-one skills, explosiveness… And most importantly, goals. La Masia had once again produced an extraordinary footballer…
But after dazzling the Camp Nou for months, the worst happened: on November 7, 2020, he tore the medial meniscus in his left knee. Destiny would have it happen against Betis again.
From that moment on, he was never the same. He missed 47 games in the 2020-21 season and another 35 in 2021-22.
The injuries gradually took away what made him special: the electricity in his first steps, the ability to turn every touch into a threat, and the power to leave defenders behind.
Image: Ansu Fati after a match with Barça / Source: FC Barcelona
And it was not just physical: the injuries also eroded the immense confidence that allowed him to naturally accept the pressure of being the chosen one to lead Barça when Messi was gone.
The desire to see the best Ansu Fati again is as understandable as it is excessive, and his name triggers a true media earthquake.
National and international press hang on every move he makes. Everything he does becomes news.
If he scores, euphoria erupts and talk of the return of the version that excited the Barcelonismo; if he is not sharp, or worse, if he gets injured again, the hasty verdict reappears, unfairly labeling him as a ‘broken toy’ at just 23 years old.
Ansu lives trapped in that pendulum that regularly swings from one extreme to the other: from a reborn promise to a lost talent in a matter of weeks. And amid all that noise, his reality is far more complex than a headline.
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The question is inevitable…
What remains of the best Ansu?
The first thing that stands out is his position on the field. At Barça, in his first season (19-20), he was a pure winger: he played hugging the touchline, cutting inside with power, ease, and confidence.
Over time, he lost explosiveness, and that has led to a clear positional shift. When he was loaned to Brighton, they did not sign a winger; they signed an attacking midfielder, a player who sought to operate more centrally, reducing runs into space.
