Ansu Fati, injured again, left without tour

Bad news for Ansu Fati. The Barcelona striker has suffered another injury just as everyone at the club stressed that he is in great shape. after the individual physical preparation he has been doing with Hansi Flick’s coaching staff. The training footage clearly shows the player’s good physical progress in these first weeks of pre-season, and now he will have to get up again to recover from another physical setback.

The club said he suffered a right foot sole injury in training on Tuesday and will continue conservative treatment in Barcelona. They did not specify when he will be out or back in training, so it is possible he will not travel to the US tour. The Barça expedition will leave on Sunday for the United States, where the team will play three friendlies against Manchester City, Real Madrid and Milan. The positive thing is that this injury has nothing to do with the previous ones. It is a problem with the sole of the foot and is not serious in principle.

Ansu Fati’s injury was a major setback for a player who had wanted to use pre-season to convince the new coach that he had a place in the Barca squad for the 2024/25 season. either as a left-winger if Nico Williams is ultimately not signed, or as an alternative to Lewandowski in the number nine position.

Long history of injuries

Physical problems have plagued Ansu Fati throughout his career and have hampered his seemingly unstoppable progress. In the 2019/20 season, he had already started to have knee problems, although they were not serious, and the big tests began for him in the 2020/21 season. In a match against Betis, he suffered a torn medial meniscus in his left knee and had to undergo surgery up to four times. He was out for 305 days and missed 64 games.

There were some setbacks in his recovery, which meant he had to spend a few more days on sick leave. The 2021/22 season saw him develop hamstring problems. He was initially out for 65 days, missing 13 games, and suffered a relapse that kept him out for another 66 days, missing another 13 games. He opted for conservative treatment and refused surgery, and due to a lack of training, he missed another month, missing up to seven games.

Last season, having recovered, he went on loan to Brighton with the intention of getting back to his old self and putting his injury woes behind him, but he failed to do so. He suffered a calf injury that kept him out for 69 days and 14 games.