Ansu Fati felt like a player again on Wednesday in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals against Borussia Dortmund at Montjuic. Hansi Flick brought on the youth team player in the 85th minute of the match, replacing young star Lamine Yamal. His entrance onto the pitch at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys was greeted with a small ovation.
On the pitch he did not have a great influence on the game, barely touching the ball on three occasions. The most notable was the last action of the game when he drove the ball into the opposition box from a central position, although he failed to make a decisive pass to a teammate who was breaking down the wing.
Ansu Fati had only played 186 minutes in this tournament, spread over eight matches: four in La Liga (Alavés, Sevilla, Espanyol and Real Sociedad), three in the Champions League (Monaco, Young Boys and Bayern Munich) and one in the Copa del Rey (Barbastro). He has not scored any goals or made any assists. He has not played in La Liga since the match against Real Sociedad on November 10th at the Reale Arena.
His return to the pitch could be a sign. And the fact is that, after rejecting multiple offers in January to leave Barça, it seems that the player has accepted that the best thing for him may be to go out in search of the minutes that he won’t get as a Barça player. The club wants to facilitate this departure and it would not be surprising if Hansi Flick gave the young player more minutes on the pitch to arouse interest in the market.
After the match, coach Hansi Flick acknowledged that: “it was good that Ansu could play. He deserved it”. Nice words, but the truth is that Barça are fighting for a treble in a busy schedule and the Barça youth player has many teammates ahead of him.
His value has plummeted
According to Transfermarkt, his value has plummeted and no one will pay a high amount for a player who is not currently worth it. According to the specialized portal, Ansu Fati’s market value is five million euros, which represents a decrease of five ‘kilos’ compared to the last update of his price at the end of the year. This makes the striker the second least valuable player in the Barça squad, surpassed only by Wojciech Szczęsny (€1M).
The 22/23 season began with a market value of 60 million euros and ended with 35 million. It was his last great season with Barça: he played 51 games and scored ten goals. Now he has completely collapsed, not playing and not even being called up for most of Barça’s games.