Poor old Ansu Fati just can’t catch a break at the moment, and the Barcelona loanee is expected to be out for a few months with his latest injury.
The 21-year-old burst onto the scene for the Catalans as a 16-year-old prodigy, and after setting numerous goalscoring records was being hailed as the potential heir to Lionel Messi.
Once the Argentinian World Cup winner was unceremoniously dumped by the club of his life, Fati took on the mantle but it evidently weighed heavily on his shoulders.
A serious knee injury saw him out of the side for an extended period and he was never the same player after he returned.
So much so that Barcelona were keen to offload him at the earliest opportunity.
An eventual move to Brighton and Hove Albion at the beginning of the current campaign was set to resurrect his fading career, and four goals (per WhoScored) breathed life and momentum into it.
Unfortunately, yet another long-term injury is set to kill off any hopes the player has of having a long-term career at the elite level.
As The Athletic (subscription required) report, Fati was already behind Evan Ferguson, Joao Pedro and even Danny Welbeck in the pecking order – which tells us much.
A return to Barcelona at season’s end is a given and it’ll be no surprise to see him farmed straight out again by the Catalans.