An out-of-favour Barcelona star could be set to join a Premier League club after he failed to celebrate the team’s La Liga title victory.
On Sunday (May 18), Barcelona paraded the La Liga trophy around an adoring Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc on the city’s edge.
Their 3-2 loss against Villarreal was already a distant memory as Raphinha, Lamine Yamal, Pedri, and co held the trophy aloft after an entertaining and ultimately successful campaign.
Barca do have one remaining La Liga fixture to play away against Athletic Club on May 25, but the hard work has already been done.
The average age of Hansi Flick’s squad is just under 24, with Yamal at 17, Pedri at 22 and Gavi at 20 bringing the average down significantly.
Barcelona lifted the La Liga title (Credit:Getty)
However, before the aforementioned trio had reached the heights they have now, another Barca youngster was dubbed as Lionel Messi’s replacement.
Ansu Fati became Barca’s second-youngest appearance maker at 16 years and 198 days old when he featured in a 5-2 home win against Real Betis in August 2019.
“Playing with Messi is a dream I had since I was a child, and now I am living it”, Fati said in 2020.
“He gives me a lot of advice, he helps me a lot on the pitch and in training, but away from it too, and that makes me very happy.”
Five years on, Fati’s progress has halted, and he reportedly ‘refused’ to join in the chants or engage with fans during yesterday’s trophy lift, according to Madrid-Barcelona.com.
The 22-year-old has featured just 11 times this season and is seemingly way down the pecking order of wingers/attackers.
The report suggests that Premier League clubs may look to move for the 22-year-old, who was previously loaned to Brighton for the 2023/24 campaign.
As reported by Tribal Football, the Spain international, whose contract is set to run until June 2027, is also of interest to Andalusian rivals Sevilla and Real Betis.
It is unclear which English clubs are interested in Fati – although it was reported by The Guardian that both West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur were keen on a loan deal in the winter.
