Brighton shock football by signing Barcelona star Ansu Fati
Brighton have pulled off one of the biggest shocks of the summer transfer window by bringing Barcelona number 10 Ansu Fati to the Amex on a season long loan.
The heir to Lionel Messi has chosen the Amex to rebuild his career after a couple of injury hit years stalled what had seemed like a career destined for greatness.
Fati made his Barcelona debut in 2019 at the age of 16 years and 298 days, becoming the second-youngest player in the club’s history. Six days later and he became Barca’s youngest ever scorer when notching in a 2-2 draw away at Osasuna.
Fast forward another month and he became the youngest player to ever to score and assist in the same La Liga match. He put Barca 1-0 up against Valencia inside of two minutes, followed by setting up Frenkie de Jong five minutes later.
Other records held by Fati during his spectacular emergence from La Masia include youngest player to play for Barcelona in the Champions League, youngest scorer in the history of the competition, youngest player to bag a La Liga brace and youngest scorer for the Spanish national team.
The past three years, however, have been less smooth. Fati suffered a meniscus tear in November 2020, leaving him out of action for nine months.
He is yet to rediscover the form which made him the hottest young propety in world football, which is a little concerning seeing as Julio Enciso has suffered the same injury. Fingers crossed Enciso enjoys a smoother recovery.
Fati made just 17 La Liga appearances over the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons. Despite his absence, he was handed the iconic Barcelona number 10 shirt when Lionel Messi left for Paris Saint-Germain.
2022-23 brought more action, with 51 appearances and 10 goals in all competitions. Fati though needs regular starting opportunities to reboot his fledgling career.
It is testament to Brighton and in particular, Roberto De Zerbi, that Barcelona feel that is best achieved at the Amex.
Fati had been on the verge of a loan switch to Spurs until speaking to De Zerbi. One phone call with the charismatic Italian was it all took to convince Fati to instead sign for Brighton.
What will be interesting is seeing where De Zerbi deploys Fati. At Barcelona, Fati was most commonly used on the left flank.
It seems unlikely that he has come to the Amex to play back up to Kaoru Mitoma; and it is equally unlikely the Albion will drop the Japanese Bullet Train.
The long-term absence of Enciso means Brighton have an opening at number 10. In his role as heir to Messi, Fati has long been touted to follow the Argetinian’s career path and switch from playing out wide to a more central role. Brighton could be the place it starts to happen.
Whilst the signing of Fati has caught the imagination because of who he is and the reputation he arrives with, it also feels like a watershed moment for the Albion.
Reports suggest that Brighton are paying up to 80 percent of his wages as part of the deal. Conservative estimates found via the ever-reliable medium of Google say Fati earns anywhere between £199,000 and £230,000 per week.
That would mean the Albion forking out upwards of £160,000 per week, completely smashing the existing pay structure at the club.
Is this the start of a brave new era, where Brighton start throwing around money comparable to other top 10 sides rather than being the plucky underdogs gate crashing the party on a minimal budget?
If Brighton can get Fati fit and firing, then it is frightening to think what he could do in the Premier League playing DeZerbiBall.
10 years ago on transfer deadline day, the big name signing from the Albion was Dean Hammond returning on loan from Southampton.
Now, it is Barcelona’s number 10 on the same afternoon games against Ajax, Marseille and AEK Athens were confirmed in the Europa League.
What a time to support Brighton & Hove Albion.
