Ansu shines for Barca
The 2019/20 campaign has seen Ansu Fati burst onto the Barcelona first-team picture.
At just 16 years of age Ansu looks like he could be the latest in a long line of Barcelona academy products who go on to have a superb career.
Ansu made his debut for Barca’s senior side on August 25th, coming off the bench in their 5-2 win over Real Betis for 12 minutes.
The youngster then scored his first goal for Barca on August 31st vs CA Osasuna.
That goal vs Osasuna made Ansu Barcelona’s youngster ever goalscorer in La Liga.
Head coach Ernesto Valverde of FC Barcelona reacts during the La Liga match between Levante UD and FC Barcelona at Estadi Ciutat de Valencia on May 13, 2018 in Valencia, Spain. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)
Valverde on Ansu
Barcelona’s latest clash saw them take on Valencia on Saturday evening.
Ansu would be handed his first start for Barca vs Valencia and he did not disappoint.
The winger would score one and assist one as Barcelona came away with a 5-2 victory.
After the game though, Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde has stated that the current La Liga champions need to try and keep the hype around Ansu down and protect him:
“There’s going to be a lot of hype with Ansu — a lot.
“What we have to do is try and keep it down. Our job is to protect the player.
“But there’s no denying Ansu is a player who has something special. He seems much more mature than his age. We saw things [against Valencia] that we see in training.
“It’s not easy to be a Barcelona player, especially for a player as young as Ansu.
“It’s not normal to score with your first touch and to assist with your second. This performance was a bit exaggerated in that sense.
“Things will even themselves out. We want him to get to know the league and to see how complicated it is [playing for Barcelona]. The kid is still developing.” As quoted by ESPN.
Related: Barcelona boost: Messi & Dembele updates ahead of Dortmund
