Jack Kenmare
A former Barcelona wonderkid who was hailed as the heir to Lionel Messi is already making history at his new club, just weeks after leaving Spain on a season-long loan.
Ansu Fati was thrown into the limelight back in August 2019, when he came on against Real Betis to make his much-anticipated Barcelona debut.
At the age of 16 years and 298 days, he made history by becoming the youngest player to play for the Catalan club since Vicente Martínez in 1941 – a moment that made headlines around the world.
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Fati quickly established himself as one of the biggest talents in world football and also one of the most in-demand. A number of top European teams expressed an interest in the talented forward, including Manchester City.
But he would soon sign a new deal at Barcelona, which included a €1 billion release clause.
Unfortunately for Fati, a number of injuries have halted his progress of late.
In fact, after playing a bit-part role under Hansi Flick, he was offloaded to French side AS Monaco this summer – a season-long loan deal that includes an option to buy for a reported £9.4 million.
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It was a move that raised eyebrows amongst some supporters, especially after his unsuccessful loan move to Brighton in 2023-2024.
But the Spaniard has hit the ground running under Adolf Hutter, scoring six goals in his opening five games for the Ligue 1 side.
To put his form into perspective, Fati has scored a goal every 42 minutes this season, which is the best minute-goal ratio of any player from Europe’s top five leagues with at least four goals, as per Opta.
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In fact, Fati became the fastest debutant to reach five goals in Ligue 1, achieving the milestone in just 126 minutes of play, breaking a record that had stood since 1948.
After securing the Player of the Month award at Monaco, manager Hutter was full of praise for the winger.
“Ansu is on the right track at the moment, although we have to manage him because we have a lot of games in this period, so we have to be very careful with him,” he said.
“But I have the impression in any case that he is stronger, that he has more energy, so then we will have to take him into account to manage his playing time. He is young but already very experienced and the Champions League is his level, as he showed against Manchester City.
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Hutter added: “He is the kind of player who can make the difference in a match, because he can score. Even what he did tactically with Maghnes (Akliouche) in our 5-4-1 system, the way he defended on the left flank with Krépin Diatta, it was impressive.
"I hope his impact in the coming weeks will still be very positive.”