Barcelona forward Ansu Fati will leave the club on loan before the end of the transfer window, as he searches for the game time that Xavi Hernandez has been unable to give him. It appears it will also be his first foray outside of Spanish football.
Fati was in talks with Tottenham Hotspur and Brighton and Hove Albion on Wednesday evening over a loan move, but Sevilla entered the race for his signature at the last moment, following links to Atletico Madrid, Liverpool, Borussia Dortmund and Chelsea too.
Ansu Fati will travel to England in less than 1h to complete his loan move to Brighton — as #BHAFC will cover 80% of his salary. 🚨🔵
Agreement reached yesterday night as revealed, now time to formally complete the move from Barça.
Here we go, confirmed. pic.twitter.com/SiGcGlpwSc
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 31, 2023
His father, Bori Fati, had voiced Sevilla as his preference for his son, being where the family lived before Barcelona, while Agent Jorge Mendes was pushing Ansu towards a move to Brighton. It appears Brighton Manager Roberto de Zerbi has been decisive, with Fabrizio Romano claiming that Fati is now on his way to England to sign his deal. That information is backed up by MD.
🚨 Brighton will cover 80% of Ansu's wage. @FabrizioRomano 💶
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) August 31, 2023
He also confirmed that Brighton would be paying 80% of Fati’s wages for the duration of the loan, which does not have an option to buy. His salary is believed to be upwards of €10m, and should give Barcelona an extra €5m to spend on incorporating new players into their salary limit, with Inaki Pena and Inigo Martinez yet to be registered.
On the face of it, Brighton should be a good place for Ansu to find his form again. De Zerbi favours offensive football and Ansu’s chief quality is his decisiveness in the final third. If he can secure a regular run of games, he may be able to regain the match sharpness he has never quite recovered since his two knee injuries two seasons ago.
