He Was “Messi’s Heir” Until Disaster Struck | What Happened to Ansu Fati?
Ansu Fati burst onto the scene at Barcelona as a 16 year old kid with the ability of a seasoned professional. His impact was immediate at a time when FC Barcelona was a bit of a gloomy place under Bartomeu. He began smashing record after record: the youngest scorer in Barcelona history, the youngest player to score in the Champions League, the youngest player to score and assist in LaLiga, and on and on the list went. In a team that boasted Messi, Suarez and Griezmann, he was an instant hit in the attack, and showed a goal sense beyond his years.
However, a knee injury in 2020 would threaten to derail his early career, while the mismanagement of the injury would lead to 4 surgeries for the same injury. And it didn’t end there, upon his return, two hamstring injuries would stretch Fati’s stop-start career to two years of injury problems. He’s back and healthy now, but he isn’t playing the same, and Xavi has put his faith in other players ahead of him. So, why is that? And will Ansu Fati leave Barcelona?
SOURCES:
theathletic.com/4360012/2023/...
theathletic.com/4483682/2023/...
en.as.com/en/2019/08/26/socce...
fbref.com/en/players/0ba976e4...
fbref.com/en/players/0ba976e4...
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Intro: 00:00
Masia magic: 01:10
Two years of hurt: 04:22
Health returns, Ansu doesn’t: 07:12
Distractions: 11:30
Outro: 13:46
Injuries changes a man
Yh him and callum hudson odoi really changed after their injuries
War never changes.
Yeah, The mf Frenchman that injured Falcao changed his career. Although he did managed to help Monaco win the league as a top scorers, he was never the same. The Colombian national team performed soo well in 2014, and I am confident that bwe would have gone to play the semis against Germany if we had Falcao. During those qualifiers Falcao single-handedly destroyed top chile, and he was without a doubt the best striker in South America. Injuries definitely change a man
Reminds me of Theo Walcott, guy was a really promising young player and injury after injury caused him to fall short of what we hoped. Love the guy but shame about his career. Ansu Fati is still 20 though, has plenty of time to get back on track.
R9
Barca needs a new medical and physio team. Dembele, Umtiti and Ansu are just the big examples on top of hundreds of other players that have suffered with varying degree of injuries that we fans were told are not that severe but have ended up being career changing injuries.
I mean they basically destroyed fati And none of the players ever seem to be at their fittest when they are there (all players look better at other clubs)
Barca already changed the medical team wtf are you yapping about? Xavi's medical team was literally the reason why dembele is back to his former self at the start of this season and last season
@@aye2you okay one example of quite a few. It’s a pattern that people are referring to and not the exception to the rule
@@Yungin349 Xavi has already changed the enitre phsioa and medical team. That was one of the first things he did when he became manager at barca.
We knew as soon as they said they would operate on his knee that Ansu wouldnt come back for a loooong time. Ansu was young enough to recover without surgeries, but Barca was so desperate to have a new goal scorer they sacrificed his knee.
His injuries basically ruined him, could things change? Maybe as he’s still very young but he’s been a shadow of himself since those long term injuries. The ability is there but it’s just not being shown like it used to.
I think it's a mental thing He's trying to play safe cause he's scared of getting injured again. He needs to kind of go back to just playing freely but it's a lot easier said than done.
That's why the club should be very careful with young players who debut very early. One injury can fuck up their whole trajectory.
You have to remember that he initially got a long-term injury, came back, relapsed, returned again prematurely and relapsed again. He was eager to get back on the pitch and he’s learned that it’s not worth coming back early. This upcoming preseason is going to be crucial for his confidence
@@roheee8 6:05 Barca destroyed him 😢
i’m really hoping ansu can come back better than ever. i’ve always had a sweet spot since his debut.
For every Messi, there is a Fati, Bojan, Halilovic, Dos Santos and many more.
Reminds me of Jese with Madrid back in 2014- was a lethal winger, the perfect backup who was growing into his own until an injury vs. Schalke derailed his entire career
Remembering how dude was benching Bale during that period. What couldve been.
Everybody forgot prime Jese 🔥🔥
First thoughts when i saw Ansu get his first injury, exactly. I'm in no way a Barca fan but i am a fan of the sport and any talent lost is a massive gut punch to the spectator. It's a shame. I was hoping for a return to form, but it's a long road.
Lol you need to learn more about him it wasn’t just injuries it’s his psycho girlfriend too
@@JohanCruyff-the-Dutch-GOAT im sure his crazy girlfriend well after leaving Madrid and before his two back to back career ending injuries for most players were what affected his career at madrid
I had an ACL injury when I was 16, I haven't played football for 5 years, because the pain was just unbearable. I had trouble even waking up and standing on my feet. I haven't had any surgeries because I wasn't planning on having a football career. I know how bad knee injury can be and how much it can change your playstyle. I am now 25 and I sometimes play 5-a-side football with my friends, but I have lost all confidence in my left foot, and I must be super catious not to tear it again.
It's good to hear it isn't just me
I don't play football of any kind because of injuries like that...not sure why your playing five a side ACL injuries are terrible, these footballers get the best treatment on earth not normal people.
@@Lee-fc3yf there's a thing called passion
@@nihadrami4666 There is also a thing called never being able to walk again. A lot of boxers have passion...some fight until they can't speak or walk.....very passionate.
Bro I know money matters and surgery could cost good amount of money, but if you could in future, please just do it, it's not just for football, you are still 25, as man, it's better to be healthy and fit, it will always benefit you, even for normal things, having your injury fixed if possible can bring alot dimensions to your both physically and emotionally
They rushed him. They gave him this label as Messi's heir and when injuries happened they rushed him again before he was fully healed.
yup, that's why the father publicly complained saying they rushed his recovery because there was much pessimism after Messi's departure and the club needed him to play again
"Rushed". Lol. Would you say the same for Messi, Gavi & Pedri?
@@NostalgiNorden not all players are the same. Messi had great names around him so when he came out it wasn't all about him.
He wasn't rushed at all. See how he came back after the injuries. Its the training which screwed him Moreover the extensive pressure on him as a number 10
Messi had great names around. A kid is comparing ansu and messi lol
This helps us understand how lucky we were that messy Almost never got injured. I remember back with Rijkaard he always got recurrent injuries. Then Guardiola appeared, changed Messi’s diet, and changed everything. What could have we lost…
You comment contradicts itself
@@zeeone4492 how?
@@lalalalalala4870 try rereading your comment
It was the hgh
@@jofieji5312 Messi has muscle issues because of his Dwarfism, he got injured before Pep a lot because of his diet and used to running around a lot. This is why we see Messi walking and this is why after Pep Messi’s injuries increased
I think throughout this season Ansu has improved for sure. Early on it was painful to watch, how he seemed unable to even carry the ball 10 yards before messing up, but as of late he’s been much improved, the goals just don’t fall for him. I think this was seen a lot in his game against Osasuna.
I fully believe that Barcelona’s medical team is complicit in the frequent and extended injuries of our players; I don’t want them to be, I’m not happy about it, but too many players are getting injured and for too long. Now Démbèle is clearly injury prone, but he was NEVER like this at Dortmund or in France. *edit: medical team
tin foil hat. A lot of teams have many long terms injuries.
Injuries, poor mismanagement with the recovery of said injuries, high expectations and hype, a father exploiting his son's fame and an agent known for exploiting his players. That's what killed Ansu Fati's career, from the next Messi, to the next Bojan.
Bojan still makes me sad today...
@@sanoj9557 Yeah... probabbly the biggest "What If" player in football history.
It's always everyone else's fault....no he is injury prone it happens to young players that's why buying young footballers for hundreds of millions is very very risky.
Injuries happen man. The real mistake was giving him the No. 10 shirt so early
Yeah, injuries have been tough on Ansu. Luckily, he seems to be getting sharper. He just needs that finishing to get back again. Also, I would love to see Adrian collab with Jamie (TalkFCB) for topics on Barça
As Barca fan selling ansu would benefit us a lot cause he's from academy but I really hope he makes a comeback and be fully fit and people who haven't watched young ansu don't know what a player he could turned out by now if didn't had such a injury prone body
Yeah i hope he goes and gets game time and comes back with an attitude and a point to prove.
It’s above the shoulders in his case.
I’m fearful that his situation will grow more reminiscent of Alexandre Pato’s career. Only difference is that Barca seems to be taking their time with him and allowing him to be rehabilitated.
I noticed he’s gaining back his form especially against Osasuna, i think these last few games will definitely show what Ansu can do, it’s surprising that it happened that just recently he’s actually performing like his older self again, all i hope is he continues on and gains back that form that made him the star that he once was.
Thanks for doing a video on this. I hope Ansu perseveres through all these adversities and comes out better, stronger and more mature... He should fight for his dream that he started making reality.
Love this channel. Appreciate all the hard work you do. Big barca fan here
He was never "messi" heir, he wasn't at that level ever. They gave him more responsibility and prestige before he could really establish himself and his consistency.
for me when i broke my leg up to the kneecap at 14, I was actually faster when I came back, but I always was in my head when i was playing and never got close to the level i was at beforehand. I hope fati can do different, fati vs vini is the rivalry i’ve been wanting to see for five years
Adrian, just wanted to let you know that your vids are simply high quality, really surprised you aren't already at a million subscribers yet.
Hi Adrian, love that Venezia kit ❤️ And also the intro was quite interesting, with that blink phrasing
Keep up the great content man! You views and takes are such a breathe of fresh air when it comes to the beautiful game, your content inspires me!
I remember the riqui puig guy too, he was supposed to be te next xavi or iniesta. Barca fans are too quick to hype young players. If you look at their rivals, madrid have some of the best young talents in the world but no one calls vinicius to be Ronaldo's heir or militao to be the next ramos and so on. I think doing that is straight up detrimental to any young player.
he is not in messi's shadow He is in his own shadow hope he stays
Great video as always but BRO what happend to the beard haha.
Hopefully these downs in his career will make him stronger mentally and he could achieve more heights in the future
your writing has gotten much better, Adrien. good stuff
Adrian as a fellow Canadian, i love your. Videos keep and coming. I want to know where you got the Venezia kit ??
Great vid. We need you take on the PSG situation asap though!
Sat here at 42 after being retired from football at 21 had 7 operations on my hip and then at 29 having a full hip replacement and now being disabled and stuck on very high strength painkillers. Look after your body when your young dont play through pain your clubs wont thank you in the long run.
I fully support fati not as a Barcelona supporter but as a football one. He needs time but he, ajd his father, need to also be patient. It hurts to see such talented rising starts constantly get injured. Nothing but tje best for the kid
Great video Well researched
The injury didn't change him. Barca's backroom staff's decisions, wanting to rush him back from injuries, did.
True Sack they all
Nothing against Fati, but I hate that his father pushed him out of the Sevilla academy. Players like Sergio Ramos and Jesus Navas came from that academy, but his father ambitiously took him to Barcelona, where so many talents were diluted and wasted. I'm sure Sevilla would have treated him like a gem and be more careful, he should have taken the Dani Olmo approach.
Fair point but I think hindsight is 20/20. The thing is, it's very hard to let an opportunity like that go by. We're talking about Barcelona, a giant club coming and inviting you to join their team. As a footballer, what greater prospect is there than having a club like Barcelona coming and asking you to play for them? Many would never miss such an opportunity because you simply don't know what the future holds and you don't want to regret not taking up an opportunity like this. Joining Barca opens up so many opportunities not just in terms of money and status but should he fail, there would be plenty of other clubs lining up to sign him. Staying at Sevilla, should he fall off the radar may not have given him the kind of options/opportunities like being at Barca.
Love your analysis!
He is still young. People like to see problems but its normal for a dude to lose a bit of confidence after his injuries. Never write those off that really want it. Fati is a great player and i still believe in him.
As a Barca fan i always say Dont sell fati yet. He is still so young. He was special & skills doesn’t fade away just like that. He needs confidence & proper playtime to recover. We can give him to loan so that he get more playtime.
I will never give up on Ansu. I love him and Barca but I hope he goes somewhere he can start and have a better chance returning to form.
He should leave Barcelona so he can gain his ground back
Dortmund BVB would be perfect
Sometimes playing for the best club at such a young age isn't always the best thing for careers! Messi is a unicorn!
Hey, Adrien. Did you play football in order t know about this tope of injury? If so, you should make a video on your perspective and playing days.
Think of how underdeveloped your body is at 16. It’s no surprise it broke down.
his injuries affected him a lot, but the close circle of people around him let him down the most.
To me this highlights the importance of emergence clubs like Ajax or Dortmund. Giving young talent the slow buy steady pace to strengthen themselves before diving on to larger more pressing environment like Barca
What a great video
Number 10 is a heavy shirt to wear after Messi
I said it earlier but some Barca fans thought I was hating on him
this will shock you but part of the reason I enjoy your regular uploads is the instrumentals LOL this ones did not hit home
The injuries may have hampered his progress but the mistake was giving him the number 10 jersey. In my opinion, Fati hasn’t really fallen off, he’s scored some valuable goals after the injuries. The dry spells were a given due to sporadic game time. For me, he should go on loan to another challenging club in La Liga to get regular games then later come back like Alba and Pique. There have been plenty of Barca youngsters going outside and doing well (moving to the right club is key here). Abde’s recent success comes to mind. Remaining at Barca is, at the moment, detrimental to Fati's progress. He knows the competition will be stiff and given current his mental state, he's not going to get the game time he wants. So he'll be stuck in limbo if he remains there. He needs to hire a psychologist to keep his mental state up and he needs to get into another club that is less glamourous but with the desire to compete (Girona and Real Sociedad, etc come to mind). Otherwise unfortunately Fati will simply end up like another Bojan.
Unfortunately, a stupid La Liga rule resulted in Ansu wearing the number 10 shirt.
Can you please make a video explaining the tasks of an agent. What do they do exactly (with example). We generally know what they do but we certainly have our confusions. For instance, if a player move from one club to another then that can be a benefit for the agent money wise. Given that, why the agent would then keep that player in the club and serve the players best interest whereas the agents interest is in somewhere else.
2:27 Nooooo! Kubu and Ansu played together!? Oh word the what ifs! The awesome duo potential, the future we'll never have!
this is why its not good to push a young talent at such a age, maybe the burden of carrying Barca at that age destroy him physicaly and mentaly
Heir to messi, maybe that also was too much pressure for any player.. i mean if you say a kid is the heir to a man who’s won everything under the football sun, that definitely has psychological consequences
envious of that venezia kit you're wearing man sheesh
This story of Ansu really breaks my Heart and I pray that he stays at Barca and finds his form again. I wish we could give him another season to start afresh and he will have time to prove himself once again after gaining his confidence back...he's part of our future. Maybe if he could reinvent himself as an attacking midfield where e doesn't need to sprint alot as a winger...
I enjoyed and liked the video. I'm also new here 👍
There should be a regulation of minimum 18 y.o to debut in senior team. Player's physical maturity should be a consideration for this. Too many young players ends their carrier because of injury.
He’s going to come back. Messi had a injury problem when he was younger. So I believe Ansu will return. He just needs Xavi to let him start. His last game against Osasuna was great. He just needs to score. Like Messi, he set the standard high and he needs time to recover his form.
messi was 3rd in ballon d or by 20
Literally the story of every youngster who's been likened to Messi.
That intro... chef's kiss.
So true, I could do so many tricks, but after my motorcycle accident, and half a year for my knee to heel, I was always afraid to show the final commitment needed for such tricks, and l´d always ruin them in the last moment... It´s like a mental barrier.
Which football club do you play for
Biggest issue with all footballers are their families. Its so common to see when players involve their family member as a part of their management team, said family members tends to force players to make decision that are not in the player's best interest, rather in the financial interest of the family members. Its only a matter of time before we see players like Fati, Moukoko, and Haaland's careers gets destroyed because of greedy family members.
im someone who has had a full rupture of an ACL and torn both meniscus (cartiledge) on both sides of my knee. I did this playing football too. The meniscus injuries arent usually very major or affect you too much. it seems the extra training before proper recovery really messed him up!
Oh man, that Venezia drip tho ❤
I'd love to see a video on what changed with Atletico Madrid that they're so good now.
The Ansu&Kubo&Eric Garcia picture somehow has been in my photo folder for a decade.
Is the opening music fallout?
And he is still just a kid Hope he finds his confidence again
The sun will shine, and I have 0 doubt in the boy
I hyperextended my right knee when I was in my mid-teens after getting my foot stuck in a rabbit hole while sprinting and it never recovered properly. I used to play a lot of rugby and relied heavily on my ability to change direction and speed quickly as a winger but just kept aggravating the knee injury every time I played to the point where I gave up in my early 20s. I also broke my left tibia a few years after and went from someone who'd happily jump off a 10ft wall to being scared to hop out of a truck bed because I no longer trusted my bones to hold up despite knowing it had healed up well. It took a good couple more years to get the faith in my body back but by then I was much older and much heavier (I really filled out in my late 20s, didn't really get fat but went from about 130lb to 200ish) so I definitely wasn't anywhere near as nimble as I was before. Some injuries just never fully heal and the mental scars can last forever. It's important to remember that players like Messi and Ronaldo are both incredibly talented and incredibly fortunate that they never picked up that injury that shortened their time at the top
Great job showing the human side Adrian
It will take time but he'll come back stronger.
I Hired him in my save in Fm23... sold him the season after... it was dreadful
Dude, you’re Canadian, what do you know about football or soccer? Only joking. Great channel and always informative.
the Fati we have now barely resembles the shadow of what he was when he made his debut. hope he can make a comeback but the problem is there is a lot of competition for place sin the starting 11
I tore my meniscus too. I didn’t get surgery so I couldn’t walk properly for almost a year. I had to quit football because of it too. Hope he becomes the player he’s supposed to be
So many players fallen to injury
Being able to rebound from injuries and dealing with media pressure often separates good players from elite players. He's just good
I can't quite remember the player but a former barca player said they don't do much body work it's a lot of technical work. But who knows what coach he was talking about. There is a fine balance of not overexerting your players and keeping them healthy and sharp
You can tell he plays with the fear of getting injured again
Injuries are a Cruel things
He just needs time and faith from Barca. After a serious long term knee injury it’s going to take him time to have belief in himself again and trusting his body. Right now he’s still worried about getting another injury.
I thought I was about to make a character with that fallout intro 😂 ❤
I never thought fati was capable of being a worldclass player in the future. Especially his comparison to messi was absolutely wrong. Messi probably took him in as a form of supporting a young player but the media made him "messi's heir". I only watch some big games of barca and i haven't seen him dribble once or be a spark of the team once. I don't know how he plays against the smaller laliga teams. I always felt like maybe his level was a mid table laliga team's best player. Because his level drops off when he faces a tougher opponent.
That venezia kit is just so clean
He is one of the jewels of La Masia he is supposed up there with messi,Busquets,iniesta,xavi,pique,fabregas and so on. I have no doubt he will comeback from his loan at brighton and cement himself as one of the best in the world once again. Fati at 18 hit levels some current “World Class”players havent even come close to touching.
Is the opening music the fallout main theme??? or am i tripping
tbf, sometimes it'll take a player 2 years to recover to truly being 100% from a major injury. this is a different sport, but i play a lot of fantasy nfl and its a common trend that RBs who tear one or multiple of their cruciate ligaments wont rly return their full abilities for another 2 seasons. i would think the same timeline could be applied to pro soccer players, so im not super worried about Fati rn. he'll get his confidence back eventually
I feel like he was pushed to stardom too early, the moment you become one of the main man, people will start to kick you around, just ask Saka, and at 16-17 the body is still developing, it's not ready for the season long grind. He would have been ready if Barca were just a bit more patient with the player till he turned 19 or 20 to give regular starts, when his body is further developed.
Its hard to see how many athletes whole future can be changed their by 1injury It happens too many times
I think all of us are over reacting a bit. He has just has been in bad form. He is still rapid. One can clearly see its a matter of confidence. Give the kid some time. He has had two major knee injurie at a very tender age.
If im correct, he had bad injuries since young age before getting into first team
I remember Barca fans use to compare him to Vini LOL
he is only 20 ………. theres still time jeez
If Messi started to become the best player at 22 then so can Ansu Fati!! Fati needs to gain his confidence back and be mentally fit!!
People called Messi the best at 17.
@@NostalgiNorden I mean yeah but he didn’t completely transform into the best until the 2008-2009 season!! When he was 21/22!!
Adrian your Kappa Vasco shirt goes hard af 🔥
This is ours on the concacaf youtube channel
Love the use of Fallout's theme in the intro!!!
was hoping someone had noticed
is that Fallout ost at the start?
Another problem also giving ansu fati no. 10 because messi wore it raised crazy expectations to him. True injuries that change his form