“I have suffered firsthand what Ansu Fati is now suffering.” In February Bojan Krkic, then still an active player and now a member of Barça's sports team, made these statements. The Linyola striker felt identified with the young attacker, who couldn't quite find his place at the Camp Nou. As in his case, his emergence had raised enormous expectations that were then not fully met.
Eight months after those words, at the end of October, Bojan Krkic went to visit Ansu Fati in Brighton, where he is playing on loan this season. One of Krkic's functions is to carry out specific monitoring of the footballers that Barcelona has on loan.
Bojan returned satisfied. He saw Ansu Fati in progress, who was working well to try to regain his best level, and within a club that, with his ups and downs, plays football with judgment and knows how to take care of young people. Krkic maintains a relationship with Brighton's assistant coach, Andrea Maldera, with whom he coincided at Milan and there also opens up a fluid communication channel to keep up to date with Fati's developments.
An Ansu who, little by little, is taking flight at Brighton. He has four goals this season, which is not many, but he has achieved three in recent weeks. He has not yet started in the Premier but he is earning minutes as a catalyst and, above all, in the Europa League. In the European competition he has started all four days and is being the protagonist. He has scored two goals in the league and two in the continental tournament, both against Ajax.
His best game was on Thursday, when he opened the scoring and assisted the British team's second goal. In the goal he looks quick and confident as he converts a shot after quickly unmarking the attack through the heart. An electric Ansu Fati in its purest form. The one that his coach wants to see with more continuity.
“I always expect more and more from him... Yes, he played a very good game, but after the second goal he had opportunities to score again... He has to push more. He is still at 50 or 60 percent of his capacity,” explained Brighton coach Rodrigo de Zerbi. The British team's coach believes that Ansu Fati still has to adapt to the rhythm of the Premier. For this he has designed a physical plan. He believes that he can regain the explosiveness of his beginnings and, above all, the enthusiasm. It is what he is looking for in the coastal town of Brighton, far from his home in Sant Cugat, and in fast, physical and top-level football. If he is capable of succeeding there he will have done well to earn another opportunity as a Barcelona fan.
He is in a better moment than when he was called up by Luis de la Fuente for the Spanish team. But curiously this Friday he was left off the list for the red team's next two games. The striker, just turned 21, is on loan to Brighton without a purchase option, so in the summer he will return to the Blaugrana discipline. With Barça he has a contract until 2027. The Barcelona team is following him closely, and more so at a time when it cannot be said that his forwards are working.
