Barcelona attacker Ansu Fati is reportedly on the verge of completing a loan move to Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion.
According to reputed Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano, Ansu Fati will leave Barcelona before the summer transfer window shuts down. And his next destination will be Brighton & Hove Albion. The Seagulls have an agreement over a loan deal without a purchase option. In addition, the Premier League club will cover most of his salary.
Ansu Fati would not have envisioned struggling for game time when he broke into the first-team squad at FC Barcelona four years ago. The Spanish international became a regular for the Blaugrana aged 16. And fans and pundits alike viewed him as Lionel Messi’s heir as Barcelona’s talismanic attacker.
But fitness issues have plagued the 20-year-old in the last few years, thereby stunting his progress. And Fati has managed only 47 minutes of game time for Barcelona in the first three games of the 2023/24 season. So, as Deadline Day approached, it had become clear that Barcelona might at least loan him out, if not sell him.
The homegrown attacker has had no shortage of suitors, with Tottenham Hotspur even advancing talks to sign him. Intermediaries had also offered the youngster to several high-profile clubs in the last few days, including Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea. But Fati’s next destination will be another Premier League club, Brighton & Hove Albion.
Ansu Fati to Brighton, here we go! Deal in place between #BHAFC and Barça as revealed earlier, verbal agreeement now done 🚨🔵✨
◉ NO buy option clause.
◉ Loan deal until June 2024.
◉ Main part of salary covered.Travel booked on Thursday, Brighton want it signed ASAP. ⭐️ pic.twitter.com/1yHKYArJ9I
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 30, 2023
Brighton & Hove Albion have made a habit of signing underrated players since their promotion to the Premier League. And they have unearthed many highly-rated prospects like Moises Caicedo, Julio Enciso, and Evan Ferguson. But this time, the template has changed slightly, as they are taking a chance on a player whose stock has plummeted in the last few years.
Ansu Fati is not the player who broke into Barcelona’s first team as a 16-year-old. But Brighton’s decision to take a punt with the 20-year-old forward might give the player some ray of hope. And the Seagulls will sign him from Barcelona in a loan deal without the option of securing his services on a permanent deal.
In addition, Brighton will cover most of Fati’s salary during the remainder of the 2023/24 season. So, with the South Coast club beating other Premier League bigwigs to the youngster’s signature, it will be interesting to see if they can help him resurrect his career.
