Barcelona fans are in need of a little good news; they’ve got it. Ansu Fati has returned to Ronald Koeman’s squad for tomorrow’s La Liga clash with Levante at Camp Nou. The teenager is expected to only feature for a short period, but his long-heralded return will be celebrated by everyone connected to Barcelona.
Not included in the squad is Frenkie de Jong, who was sent off during Thursday evening’s 0-0 draw at Cadiz. Koeman was also sent off during that game – an uninspiring contest that’s heaped further pressure on the Dutchman – and will sit in the stands.
🚨 𝙎𝙌𝙐𝘼𝘿 𝙇𝙄𝙎𝙏 !! 🚨 #BarçaLevante pic.twitter.com/mRnjSdu050
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) September 25, 2021
Fati was injured during a clash with Real Betis at Camp Nou last November. He’s since undergone several surgeries, but is finally beginning to return to fitness. Already a full Spanish international, Fati is a fleet-footed forward and will offer another element to Barcelona going forward when he does return to full speed.
Ansu Fati:
Youngest Barça player in 80 years. Youngest Spain player in 85 years. Barça's and Spain's youngest ever scorer.
Youngest ever player to score & assist in a La Liga match.
Youngest El Clasico scorer.
Youngest UCL scorer.
Scored 11 goals from first 16 shots.— Colin Millar (@Millar_Colin) September 25, 2021
“There’s a long way to go before he’s back to where he was,” Koeman said in pre-match conference in comments carried by Marca. “He won’t recover in two games or in two weeks. We have to be attentive to help him; the most important thing is that he recovers. It depends on his state. We have to work with the medical staff. We’re talking about a young man who will give us a lot of quality, but we have to go little by little.
“He’s very important,” Koeman continued. “First of all for him, we have a plan and we’re going to follow the plan to fully recover Ansu. He’s going to have a process to earn minutes. He’s been called up but he’ll play a maximum of 15 minutes. The most important things is that he recovers well, not fast.”
