Diseño sin título   2025 01 27T105143.963

Message from Hansi Flick?

Ansu Fati did not play any minutes in FC Barcelona's thrashing of Valencia

Published:27/01/2025 - 10:57h

Updated:27/01/2025 - 11:09h

The attacker trained at La Masia did not come onto the pitch in a match that was settled in the first half and has now gone 6 games without playing

Calendar of FC Barcelona

Ansu Fati's situation is tricky. The Barça striker started the season with the confidence of Hansi Flick, who had focused on recovering his best form. His injuries are barely giving him continuity. However, when he is on the pitch, his performance is not the best. These combined factors have caused the current context, in which the footballer trained at La Masia has not played for 6 games.

FC Barcelona sealed the match against Valencia in the first half, with a comfortable 5-0. Thus, in the second half there was a carousel of rotations with which the minutes were shared. When the hour mark came, Gerard Martín replaced Balde and Lewandowski, pursued by Mbappé in the race for the top scorer, replaced Raphinha. Later, Héctor Fort and Pau Víctor entered the pitch in place of Koundé and Lamine. Finally, Pablo Torre, with the intervention of Gavi, completed the changes by entering for De Jong.

Thus, Ronald Araujo, Christensen, Gavi and Ansu Fati, as well as Iñaki Peña, were left without minutes. The most striking cases are that of the Dane and the '10', as the other two mentioned usually have minutes. Andreas, recently recovered from his injury, needs to get some playing time to regain his form, but he has not yet played since his return. On the other hand, the attacker has already been out of action for 6 games, since the match against Barbastro, and has not been called up for either of the two Spanish Super Cup matches, nor against Betis in the Copa del Rey and Getafe in LaLiga.

Hansi Flick could be sending a message to the forward. Publicly, he had no qualms about saying that he had been "honest with him" and that they had talked about "different options". He also left the ball in the court of the Spanish-Guinean: "He will decide how he will take it. If he wants to stay, that's fine. He is a La Masia player, raised here and we will take the utmost care of him," he explained. Given his performances on match days, one might think that the conversation was aimed at letting him know that he is not being counted on. With one week to go until the market closes and in this context, a last-minute departure cannot be ruled out.