[ad_1]
Ansu Fati became the second youngest player to appear in the Liga for Barcelona after being presented for the first time in Sunday's 5-2 win against Real Betis.
Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Ousmane Dembele being missing, Ansu, aged 16 years and 298 days, was summoned by the 18 men accompanied by the team B winger, Carles Perez.
Ernesto Valverde named him substitute. Perez began to attack alongside Antoine Griezmann and Rafinha, before catching him in the second half, when the Barca led 5-1.
Ratings for Barca players: Griezmann shining in rout on Betis
– Fantasy on ESPN Premier League: register now!
– When is the draw of the group stage of the Champions League?
The champions of Spain then won the match with Griezmann scoring twice. Perez, Jordi Alba and Arturo Vidal have also been targeted.
"Ansu has a lot of qualities, he's fast and he uses space well," Valverde said at a press conference after the match.
"I know that he is very young, he is the youngest player I have ever debuted, but if you do not look at the age of the other players in the world, you know he is a young man. team, we are not going to look at his age either.We look at what he can add and he has surprised us all. "
After the match, Ansu, who fired a very narrow shot at the time of his appearance, stayed on the ground longer than his teammates.
"I was watching my parents and my family [in the stands], all those who have accompanied me so far in my career, "he told reporters.
"I stayed in the field because I could not believe it, I wanted to take advantage of this moment.The truth is that I was very nervous before, but I only have words of gratitude for everyone: the club, the manager, the fans, who made me a great home. "
Ansu – who played for under-19 last season – is younger than players like Messi and Bojan Krkic when they debuted at the highest level for the club, but is not the youngest player to have played in the Catalan league.
Vicenc Martinez was 16 years old and 278 days old when he made his first appearance in the La Liga for Barca from the 1941-1942 season – just 20 days less than Ansu.
After lengthy negotiations, Barcelona finally linked Ansu to a new deal earlier this summer. The striker signed new terms to keep him at the club until 2022 with an option to extend the contract for another two years. A buyback clause of 100 million euros was included in the contract.
The discussions took longer than initially planned, however, after an email was in the wrong hands as he negotiated a new contract for another young club star, Ilaix Moriba.
The e-mail, describing the new transaction of Ilaix, was sent to an employee of Espanyol instead of his agent. A source from Espanyol told ESPN FC that the club was "stunned" over the proposed money.
In turn, Ansu representatives called for a better deal with Barca, especially because of the interest shown by young people from the most important clubs in Europe.
Barcelona had always planned to give Ansu a new agreement and an exceptional salary increase. With Ilaix, he is one of the most highly rated players in the academy.
The club has recently recognized the need to improve the conditions offered to its best young players after seeing a number of them choose to leave for clubs like Borussia Dortmund, Manchester City and Monaco.
Ansu was born in Guinea-Bissau, but he moved to Catalonia very young and has been part of the club since the age of 10. He has progressed in the academy and should spend this season with Team B in the Spanish Third Division.
[ad_2]
Source link