La Liga giants Barcelona's youth training system can be said to be the strongest in Europe, and the 16-year-old Yamal shined in this European Championship and is considered a talent who can succeed Messi. Yamal scored seven goals and provided eight assists in 51 appearances for Barcelona last season and is already worth a whopping €90 million.
However, Fati, the last genius produced by Barcelona, performed no worse than Yamal when he debuted, but due to injuries and other reasons, Fati has now been listed as a target for sale by Barcelona.
Fati was born on October 31, 2002, entered the La Masia academy at the age of 10, and can be said to have grown up watching Messi play.
Fati has shown an unrivalled talent from an early age, with great speed and explosiveness, delicate dribbling at his feet, a knack for breaking through and passing, and a precise finish, Fati is a right-footed player who can play both wide and midfield.
In the 2019-20 season, Fati entered the Barcelona first team at the age of 17 and became the youngest goalscorer in La Liga with 16 years and 304 days, a record that was not broken until three years later, when he was 16 years and 87 days. In the end, Fati made 33 appearances in all competitions, starting 15 times this season, scoring eight goals and providing one assist.
Such a good performance has Fati considered La Masia's next unborn talent, Messi's successor. At the end of 2020, Fati's peak value reached 80 million euros, and the limelight was no less than that of Yamal now.
However, just as Fati was growing rapidly, the relentless injury became the biggest obstacle to his progress, and after nearly a year of resting from a serious meniscus tear in November 2020, Fati rested for more than half a year due to a hamstring injury. Those two serious injuries saw him make just 24 appearances in two years, but despite this, Fati still scored 11 goals and provided two assists.
At this time, Fati was still the prince of Barcelona, he not only wore the No. 10 shirt left by Messi, but also renewed his contract with Barcelona until June 2027, getting a high salary of 14 million euros before tax, and Barcelona set a release fee of 1 billion euros for Fati.
In the 2022-23 season, the 21-year-old Fati finally recovered his health, but two serious injuries have changed his physical condition and playing style a lot. Torres and others, Fati played 51 times as the main rotation player, started 14 times, scored 10 goals and provided 3 assists, and the efficiency of 197 minutes per ball was okay.
However, at this time, Fati not only changed his body and before, but also changed his mentality a lot, and he also fought with his teammates for penalties on the field.
In the summer of 2023, Fati offered Xavi a loan move, hoping to regain form in a change of circumstances. So he moved to Brighton in the Premier League, where the Seagulls paid 70% of his annual salary.
However, in the Premier League, which emphasizes confrontation and fast-paced, the thin Fati not only can't adapt, but injuries still accompany him. Over the course of the season, he made 27 appearances and started nine starts, scoring four goals and providing one assist.
Such a performance could not impress Brighton, and after the season, Fati returned to Barcelona and his value plummeted to 25 million euros.
Barcelona's new head coach Flick still has hopes for Fati, who plans to look at Fati's form through pre-season and then determine his position in the team, where he will still wear the number 10 shirt for Barca.
However, for the Barcelona club, the current Fati is not what it used to be, his high salary of 14 million euros is considered a burden for the club, Barcelona are open to Fati's transfer, their psychological price is 40 million euros, but no team has made a substantial offer.
Barcelona had planned to add Fati to a deal for Felix or Frimpong to offset some of the transfer fee, but neither Atletico nor Bayer Leverkusen showed little interest in Fati. Sevilla and Borussia Dortmund had been interested in signing Fati on loan, but neither of them was willing to pay 70 per cent of Fati's salary like Brighton, so there has been little progress so far.
For Fati, it has now reached the most difficult time of his career, and he is training hard with Balde at the Barca base, hoping to impress Flick with a good performance in pre-season.
Having a fully cashed in talent Fati is equivalent to at least 80 million reinforcements, what else does Barcelona buy as a left winger?