Striker Ansu Fati arrives at Brighton
According to Mundo Deportivo, many big players of European football such as Chelsea, Tottenham or Dortmund are negotiating with Barca about the loan of Fati for the 2023-2024 season.
On August 30, just two days before the European transfer window closed, Brighton joined the race and immediately closed the deal. Accordingly, Fati will play for Brighton on a loan contract with no option to buy, and will return to Barca in the summer of 2024.
The Premier League representative will pay most of the Spanish striker's salary. The conversation with coach Roberto De Zerbi is considered an important factor in Fati choosing Brighton, instead of going to other big clubs.
Fati also has a contract with Barca until 2027 with a release clause of more than $ 1 billion, and prioritizes staying at Camp Nou. But he changed his decision after Bori's father and agent Jorge Mendes urged him to move to another club for a year to play regularly.
Brighton is a phenomenon in the Premier League, finishing sixth last season to participate in the Europa League, thereby qualifying for the European Cup for the first time in its 121-year history. Even though they just sold Caicedo for a record price, Brighton's team still has many highly rated players such as Mitoma Kaoru, Julio Enciso or Solly March.
Fati grew up from La Masia and was promoted to Barca's first team for the 2019-2020 season. The Spanish striker wore the 22, 17 shirt respectively and took over the number 10 shirt after the legendary Lionel Messi expired his contract and moved to PSG in the summer of 2021.
The 20-year-old was expected to become a new icon at the Camp Nou, but consecutive injuries have affected his momentum. Last season, Fati only started 12 La Liga matches, making the remaining 24 substitutions, scoring seven and assisting four goals.
Coach Xavi prioritizes using four midfielders with Pedri or Gavi being pushed to the left wing. On the opposite wing is the competition between Raphinha, Ferran Torres and Fati. This season, Fati's position is even more shaky because 16-year-old talent Lamine Yamal is making great progress.
The push of Fati to Brighton and Clement Lenglet to Aston Villa on loan is a move for Barca to solve the salary cap problem required by La Liga to bring in Man City right-back João Cancelo and striker Joao Felix. of Atletico in the final days of the transfer window. Before that, they also parted ways with Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba, Samuel Umtiti, Franck Kessie, and Ousmane Dembele to free up salary funds.
