da imperador bet： The La Masia starlet who inherited Barca's famous No.10 shirt has fallen out of favour in Catalunya and has now joined the Seagulls

da 888： Ansu Fati was supposed to be the next big thing. A La Masia product who liked to cut in from the wing, take on defenders and fire on goal with deadly precision, he was pretty much the closest player Barcelona had produced to Lionel Messi in years.

For 12 glorious months, Ansu looked ready to take up Messi's mantle. He made his debut in September 2019, and tore up La Liga for almost a year. He broke countless records, scored at a better rate than early-career Messi, and, perhaps most importantly, played exciting football. This was the next Messi, the guy Barca could rely on for years to come.

Or so it seemed. Fati would soon descend into injury hell, never really recovering from a knee issue, and suffered a series of muscle problems as a result. Four years on from his debut, Fati is playing his football elsewhere, having joined Brighton on loan for the 2023-24 campaign.

But how did it all go so wrong? GOAL tracks Fati's career, looking at how a player once tipped to be one of the world's best now finds himself looking to rebuild his career away from Catalunya…

FCB24 July, 2019: On the dotted line

Fati had been a crucial part of Barca's youth sides for most of 2018-19, and the plan was to have the teenager play the next season for Barca B in the Spanish third tier, before being promoted to the first team the following campaign.

But once it became clear that Barca needed help up front — and that Fati had a long-term future at the club — he signed his first professional contract. So started a rapid rise to stardom…

AdvertisementGetty25 August, 2019: Record-breaking debut

An injury crippled Barcelona needed reinforcements for the start of the 2019=20 season, and Fati was the most obvious answer among the academy ranks. With Luis Suarez and Messi both injured, the Blaugrana turned to the 16-year-old for valuable minutes off the bench.

Against Real Betis at Camp Nou, Fati entered the game in the 78th minute, and delivered a solid cameo as Barca ran out victorious courtesy of one of Antoine Griezmann's few standout showings in Catalan colours. At 16 years and 298 days, Fati was the second-youngest debutant in the club's history.

Getty31 August, 2019: On the scoresheet

A week later against Osasuna, Fati got on the scoresheet for the first time. The winger ghosted across the box, and leaped into the air to guide a Carles Perez cross into the far corner. His neat finish wouldn't be enough for Barca to win as they drew 2-2, but it did make him the youngest goalscorer in the club's history.

14 September, 2019: A memorable first start

The youngster did enough over the following weeks to prove that he deserved a spot in the XI, and Fati was handed a start against Valencia, ousting a still-recovering Suarez as part of Barca's front three.

It was a dream performance from the then-16-year-old. Within seven minutes, he had both scored and assisted, turning in a star showing as Barca battered their opponents 5-2. His assist, in particular, was a thing of beauty, the winger darting past two defenders on the left before cutting the ball back to a marauding Frenkie de Jong — a link-up between Barca's two presumptive stars of the future.