Ansu Fati linked with loan move to Tottenham Hotspur

The Lilywhites look to strengthen their attacking options by signing the Spanish forward.

Several players have been linked with a move to Tottenham in recent weeks, and heading into the final few days of the 2023 Summer Transfer window, Ange Postecoglou is said to be looking to bolster his attacking options going into the rest of the 2023/24 season.

One of the recent links has been with FC Barcelona forward Ansu Fati, who is said to be available for a potential season-long loan deal. The Spaniard has also been linked with London rivals Chelsea, but it appears that THFC is the closest to potentially completing a deal for their ninth summer signing.

If Fati were to join Spurs, he would be following in the footsteps of Manor Solomon (Free Transfer, Shakhtar Donetsk), Ashley Phillips (£2 million, Blackburn Rovers), Alejo Véliz (£13 million, Rosario Central), Guglielmo Vicario (£17.2 million, Empoli), Dejan Kulusevski (£25 million, Juventus), Micky Van de Ven (£34.5 million, Wolfsburg), Pedro Porro (£40 million, Sporting Lisbon) and James Maddison (£40 million, Leicester City) in making a move to North London.

Rewinding to 2009, Ansu joined Spanish club Herrera’s academy before moving to Sevilla’s youth set up a year later in 2010. He spent two years with the Rojiblancos (Red and Whites) before signing for the world-famous La Masia Academy at FC Barcelona at the age of 10 in 2012.

Fast forward to the 2018/19 season, and he made nine appearances for the club’s Under 19 side in that season’s UEFA Youth League competition, scoring four goals as well as getting three assists on the way to the semi-final where they lost 6 – 7 on penalties against Chelsea. The Blues lost the final 3 – 1 against Portuguese Giants FC Porto.

Then, after signing his first professional contract with the Catalan Giants on 24th July 2019, Ansu Fati made his senior debut for the first team as a late substitute in a 5 – 2 Home La Liga win against Real Betis on 25th August of that year aged just 16 and 298 days. This made the forward the second youngest Barcelona debutant, with the record still held by left back Vicenç Martínez, who made his debut 18 days younger in 1941.

A few days later, on 31st August 2019, Fati scored his first professional goal for Barça in a 2-2 draw against Osasuna at the age of 16 years and 304 days. This meant that, at the time, he became the youngest-ever goal scorer in the history of FC Barcelona and the third youngest in the history of La Liga. Since then, Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal has become the youngest Barcelona debutant of all time, making his senior bow at 15.

By the time the 2019/20 season had concluded, Ansu Fati had made 33 appearances in all competitions for the Blaugrana, scoring eight goals whilst also getting an assist to boot. 24 of these appearances and 7 of the goals came in La Liga – Fati helped the club finish in 2nd place with 82 points overall.

Injuries prevented Fati from playing for much of the 2020/21 season, but he still made history before being side-lined.

After scoring in Barça’s 5 -1 UEFA Champions League victory against Hungarian team Ferencvaros, Ansu Fati became the first player to score more than one goal in the competition before turning 18 years old. He then became the second youngest scorer in the history of El Clasico, aged 17 years and 359 days, in what was a 3 – 1 defeat against Real Madrid. Alfonso Navarro still holds this record, scoring against Real Madrid at 17 years and 356 days back on 30th March 1947.

Unfortunately for Fati, the following season, 2021/22, was injury-affected, suffering a hamstring injury in a 3-2 Copa del Rey defeat against Athletic Club Bilbao in January 2022, making his return in a 2 – 1 win against Mallorca in La Liga on Sunday 1st May 2022. He still made 15 appearances in all competitions, scoring six goals and getting an assist.

Thankfully for Ansu Fati, the Spanish forward had a season free from any serious injuries over the 2022/23 season, making 51 appearances in all competitions, scoring ten goals whilst also providing four assists. He was able to help the club to its 27th La Liga title after accumulating 88 points, ten ahead of El Clasico rivals Real Madrid in second place. So far this season, he has made 3 La Liga appearances.

At the age of 20, Ansu Fati has already had a stellar career and has been able to perform despite some injury problems. Should he sign for Spurs, he would be an exciting addition to the Lilywhites’ attacking options for the 2023/24 season.

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