Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United are all interested in Ansu Fati and have made contact with the Barcelona forward, but not with his club yet.
According to Ben Jacobs in his exclusive weekly CaughtOffside column, the Spain international could be one of those worth watching this summer, although a huge offer in the 100 region will likely be needed. million euros to get him out of Barcelona.
Fati has long had his eye on a formidable prospect at the Nou Camp, and it seems Barca are reluctant to let him go.
Clubs have yet to approach Barcelona about Fati, but it looks like Arsenal, Liverpool and Man Utd are already making strides towards the player.
Discussing the latest news on Fati's future, Jacobs said:
“Barcelona boss Xavi came out and said that Ansu Fati is not for sale, but sometimes financial need forces to sell. Any departure this summer would come as Barcelona need to reduce their wage bill by 150-200 million euros or generate significant revenue. Fati is by no means one of the highest earners at the club, but he is still well-paid and a talented young striker will demand a high salary.
Ansu Fati celebrates a goal for Barcelona
“Premier League clubs have been in contact with the player side, which is also why Barcelona stay away from speculation as they are not yet the ones involved in the negotiations.
“It makes sense that Fati could cost around 100 million euros, which would be a club record for many interested pursuers and a hefty price tag for his current form.
“A series of knee injuries seem to have affected his overall development. But Fati still has all the attributes to add purpose, drive, creativity and versatility to Barcelona or whichever club he moves to next.
"At the moment, the player just wants to be consistent. Last season, he scored 4 goals in 10 games in La Liga. This season, he has played 20 times but scored only 3 goals and no as many minutes as he would like. Also, there was a lot of pressure to wear the No. 10 shirt at Barcelona and Fati wasn't as clinical or explosive as many expected.
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“At this stage, we have Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal as the three Premier League clubs who are doing due diligence on Fati via the player side. I don't think there's as much to the Bayern Munich links.
“There is at least some encouragement, as I understand it, on the player side, that he is intrigued by the Premier League club but there remains firm discouragement from both Xavi and Joan Laporta:
Fati is way down on the list of the players Barca wish to sell, so it would probably be a club-record offer for these teams to alter Barcelona's thinking. Fati may also play a part if, come May, he still feels like he's owed more minutes.”
Arsenal would certainly do well to bring in a top class signing in attack, as they've lacked depth behind Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli this season, with January signing Leandro Trossard perhaps not looking like someone who's likely to be that long-term an option, or an automatic starter.
Liverpool have made a number of attacking signings in recent times, with Cody Gakpo, Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz coming in in the last three transfer windows, but further changes could be
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