Ansu Fati was so highly rated at Barcelona that he was given Lionel Messi's old number 10 shirt. Fati broke Barca and La Liga records when he found the back of the net for the club as a 16-year-old. In his first full season with the club, Fati scored seven goals, with one assist in 24 La Liga matches.
His form did not last, though, as he began to suffer a variety of injuries. Notably, a meniscus tear ruled Fati out for nearly a year. Fati was sent on loan to Premier League side Brighton & Hove Albion, which was considered a coup for the Seagulls. However, Fati scored just two goals in 19 matches in English soccer's top flight.
The winger has also played 10 times for Spain, scoring twice. However, both the Spanish national team and Barca have moved on from Fati. Lamine Yamal is the new young star winger on the block. There has also been talk that Barcelona could sign Marcus Rashford, which would send Fati down the pecking order even further.
Fati returned to Barcelona for the last campaign, but made just 11 appearances in all competitions. He is now set to join a new club. ESPN has reported that "Fati is set to join AS Monaco on loan next season after both clubs reached a full agreement on Wednesday."
Ansu Fati will strengthen AS Monaco
Monaco finished third in Ligue 1 last season, which was 23 points off the champions Paris Saint-Germain. However, Adi Hütter is building an impressive roster to challenge PSG. They are set to sign Paul Pogba, who will be motivated to make up for lost time after sitting out due to a doping ban. Hütter's side also includes USMNT forward Folarin Balogun. The striker can hopefully stay fit in the next campaign and rediscover the form he showed at Stade de Reims.
PSG has won 11 out of the last 13 Ligue 1 titles. Monaco and Lille are the only other teams to win the division in this period of Les Parisiens' dominance. PSG has just won the Champions League and is one of the favorites to win the Club World Cup. Monaco will have a difficult task to challenge PSG next season, but it would be great for French soccer if they could.
Will Ansu Fati ever get back to his best?
With all of the injuries that Fati has had, he has not been able to show the impressive dribbling skills that lit up La Liga in his early years at Barca. His career is in danger of following a similar path to that of Michael Owen. Once Owen's pace slowed down due to injury, he had to dramatically change his game.
If Fati cannot glide past defenders as he used to, then he needs to become more of a playmaker or a finisher. This will be difficult for the player, but he is only 22 and can also play as a center-forward or as an attacking midfielder. This will be useful to Hütter as Monaco already has talented left-wingers such as Eliesse Ben Seghir and Takumi Minamino.