Barcelona possesses within their grasps players of extraordinary potential and experienced quality. There are players that have proven their worth over years and years of developing as professionals and even those that begin to show prominence at surprisingly young ages, often becoming first-team regulars before even having hit the age of 20.
The case of Spanish forward Ansu Fati is not much different. A product of La Masia, the 20-year-old mercurial attacker is one that began to enjoy the perks of possessing an impressive innate footballing ability and natural inclination towards the sport itself.
However, the youngster has had to face his own unique hurdles as well. Hurdles that in recent times have risked his continuity at FC Barcelona, the club of his dreams, due to a visible drop in his confidence and self-belief in his abilities.
Having had to face a number of career-altering injuries even before hitting the age of 20, the young Spaniard was often forced to leave his ongoing season to recover just when he would begin to find his best form.
Now, the player has had time to recover and is gradually getting a hold of his own ‘mojo’ back, scoring goals and becoming dynamic once more in the way he handles the ball at his feet. Despite this rather apparent resurgence, there were doubts if he is actually worth the €60 million that his reported transfer value suggests he is, and that is where certain parallel comparisons come into play.
As highlighted and picked out by Mundo Deportivo, there are three players currently in Europe who have experienced a fate similar to Ansu Fati when it came to them being dealt the unfortunate hand of serious injuries that could have potentially plagued the rest of their careers.
However, these players have all managed to resurface and are now attracting extravagant offers from the rest of the European elites.
Case number one is that of Christopher Nkunku, who has recently just transferred from the German Bundesliga side to the English Premier League club Chelsea for a fee around €60 million, similar to the market value of Ansu Fati.
His knee injury prior to the FIFA World Cup 2022 made him sit out the international tournament but his return has been sublime and he finished this season as joint top scorer of the Bundesliga.
Another player who could be related to the situation faced by the Barcelona forward is Federico Chiesa of the Italian side Juventus.
Having been injured for almost a year due to a cruciate ligament injury, the player returned in November 2022 and has since gradually managed to overcome this setback, with interest from the likes of Liverpool, Newcastle United, and other top European sides beginning to come through for the player, as he is a player that they are willing to spend big on.
Last is the case of another Bundesliga talent and a former player of interest of FC Barcelona. Florian Wirtz of Bayer Leverkusen also faced a serious anterior cruciate ligament injury in March of last year following one of his best-ever seasons, but has since managed to return and is gradually finding his best form again.
The recent reports of potential €70 million offers circulating for him are also evidence that players this young are still trusted to be future assets to any side willing to invest in them.
While Barcelona remain in no such mindset to let Ansu Fati go at the moment given his re-emerging progress and his dedication to succeeding at Barca, it is a breath of fresh air to see European talents around the continent overcoming massive setbacks such as serious injuries to being able to find their best selves again, something the Catalan club hope will be the case with Ansu Fati as well.
