While not everything has gone according to the script, Barcelona forward Ansu Fati still remains one of the brightest jewels to have graduated from La Masia in recent years. His substitute appearance in the last La Liga match against Getafe saw him make his 100th appearance with the club.
Fati made his first team debut in the match against Real Betis on 25th August 2019, which made him the second youngest player to have made a debut with the club at the age of 16 years, 9 months, and 25 days, only following Vicente Martínez Alama, who made his debut in 1941.
Former Head Coach, Ernesto Valverde, was one of the chief advocates of the player, who gave him the option to skip Barcelona B and join the first team directly from Juvenil A. His inclusion in the first team squad was spurred on by the losses the team suffered by the injuries to Leo Messi, Luis Suárez, and Ousmane Dembélé.
Six days after his debut with the first team, the player appeared in another match against Osasuna, in which he scored his first goal for the Barcelona first team, which also made him the youngest ever player to score a goal for the club in La Liga. His Champions League debut also came a few weeks later, because of which he became the youngest Champions League debutant for the club.
However, this promising start for the player was rocked as he suffered a succession of injuries, with an injury to his meniscus suffered in November 2020 being the most traumatic. Another hamstring injury in January 2022, left him out of action for another 38 games, and the player has not properly recovered his form since that time.
With him having played his 100th match, Fati will be looking forward to taking the opportunity to impress Xavi, and carve a place for himself in the starting line-up, and live up to the expectations that he had set with his fiery early career appearances.
