Back in November, Barcelona was struggling, but Ansu Fati was not. He had just celebrated his 18th birthday and had scored five goals in 10 matches, including the Blaugrana’s only goal in the 3-1 loss in El Clásico. Lionel Messi was working his way back to full fitness, Antoine Griezmann was figuring out where he belonged, and Ousmane Dembélé was coming back from injury himself, so it was the 18-year-old that was looking like Mr. Reliable to Barça’s attack.
Barcelona has turned things around of course and are now contending for the La Liga crown, but the what-ifs of this season all center around Ansu Fati. Maybe nothing changes; the difference between Barcelona winning the “big” matches and losing them this season has been individual errors plus inexperience. That said, one has to wonder how the first leg against PSG may have gone if Fati was there to score from Alba’s cross in the first 10 minutes at the Camp Nou. There is an argument that Ronald Koeman doesn’t switch to the 3-5-2 if Fati is healthy, but the more optimistic approach is that the Spaniard would have become an even bigger threat as a danger in the box and still thrived taking turns with Alba coming down the left wing.
Culers should hold out hope that one of the world’s brightest talents and the runner-up to Erling Haaland for the 2020 Golden Boy award (while being two years younger than the Norwegian) will come back healthy and continue his ascent into the FC Barcelona history books. That hope has been tainted recently though, has Fati’s left knee hasn’t been cooperating with any method of recovery. At his age, surgery was initially tabled, but discomfort persisted and he went under the knife. Now the internal meniscus of his left knee has required arthroscopic surgery in another procedure. While it was done by trusted Portuguese surgeon Dr. Jose Carlos Noronha, who was credited with saving or at least greatly prolonging the careers of Pepe and Radamel Falcao, it is still a risky operation for a professional athlete.
His most recent time on the sideline has been set at two months, meaning that he’ll miss the Euros and the Olympics, depending on which one Luis Enrique wanted to send him to. With his long lay-off, the best situation would be to take his time to return, potentially get some work in during the preseason, and take his time through the early months of the season regaining his fitness.
Knee injuries are no laughing matter, especially at Fati’s age. The hope is that he’ll be back to his best and have a long and fruitful career at the Camp Nou. Yet, the harsh reality is that there are less players that go under the knife so often at his age that do reach their full potential than those who do. Joan Laporta, having taken over a club in extreme debt and needing the guarantee of success and financial reward in the post-Messi era, must be considering the harrowing timeline where Fati never really gets back to even what he was.
This is where Neymar comes into play. I can’t think of a more polarizing figure to Culers – some will never forgive him for the way he left, some will always revere him for the things he did at the club, and some are willing to forgive his antics and past due to his brilliance. It seems everyone has an opinion about the mercurial Brazilian.
At the moment, he seems too expensive and doesn’t make sense in a team with so many other high earners. Though he was willing to pay his way to get to PSG in the first place – would he be willing to do so again for a return? PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaïfi is apparently unhappy with the links of Neymar back to Catalonia, but it’s no different than the ways that sporting director Leonardo is pushing for Messi, both privately and publicly.
The Neymar rumors also come hot on the heels of PSG’s unceremonious Champions League semi-final exit to Pep Guardiola and Manchester City, where the Brazilian was given plenty of criticism for his perceived attitude, selfish play, and not delivering without Kylian Mbappe.
I usually throw all Neymar rumors straight out the car window, even if SPORT can’t keep him off their front page the day after the Barcelona Femení qualified for the Champions league final. Yet, due to the uncertain future of Ansu Fati, and therefore Barcelona’s attack after Messi, there may be something to the Catalans latest connection to Neymar.
Dan Hilton is an American journalist, broadcaster, and current Editor-in-Chief of BarcaBlog. Extensive work as a play-by-play broadcaster, producer behind the scenes, and quite average player in his younger years has given him a well-rounded and informative perspective on the sport. Alongside BarcaBlog founder Francesc, Dan started The Barcelona Podcast in 2017
