Ansu Fati’s Price Tag Is Making FC Barcelona Sale Difficult

Ansu Fati’s price tag is proving to be an obstacle in FC Barcelona’s quest to sell the player, reports from Catalonia claim.

Fati was again benched for Sunday’s meeting with Real Madrid in El Clasico. As Gavi got the nod as a false left winger in one of his possible berths, Robert Lewandowski occupied the other as Barca’s number ‘9’ and centre forward.

The youngster was afforded a short cameo at the end, and missed a chance to become the hero of the night in Los Blancos’ penalty area. A few minutes later, he was made to watch as Franck Kessie stole the headlines with the stoppage time winner, in a 2-1 victory that fired the Catalans to a 12-point lead in La Liga which has them with one hand already on the Spanish top flight trophy.

Big things were expected of Fati after he broke onto the scene as a record-breaking 16-year-old in 2019.

In 2021, after Lionel Messi left for Paris Saint Germain, president Joan Laporta offered him a new contract with a €1 billion ($1.073 billion) release clause plus the Argentine’s number ’10 shirt.

Injuries have blighted the Spain international’s progress and confidence, though, with Fati seeming a yard or two slower than when he became the Champions League’s youngest ever goalscorer and hesitant to make the same hell-for-leather runs that endeared him to football fans worldwide.

With Barca forced to shed €200 million ($214 million) from the wage bill, selling Fati has been touted as a potential way of alleviating some of their financial woes.

Head coach Xavi has continued to rule out a sale in his press conferences, however, with SPORT claiming that Barca will not push to kick the Guinea-Bissau-born sensation out of the club either.

At the same time, the Catalan daily newspaper says that Barca will turn a blind eye to the dealings of the player’s agent Jorge Mendes, who met with Laporta and sporting director Mateu Alemany in Porto last week to touch bases on several shared Barca stars as Fati was top of the agenda.

It has already been said that Mendes has found a market for Fati in the Premier
PINC
League, but his price tag is proving an obstacle.

Previous reports have suggested that Barca would accept €70-100 million ($75-107 million) for Fati, but it has also been claimed that his value has dropped to €40 million ($43 million).

What must be remembered is that as Fati is a product of the La Masia academy, a sale for any amount presents pure profit for Barca.

Simultaneously, however, they will not want to offload Fati on the cheap and live to regret the decision if he becomes the world class player that the Blaugrana still believe he can be.