Football: AS Monaco sign Ansu Fati on loan from Barcelona

Monaco, July 1 (IANS) French club, AS Monaco, have announced the arrival of Ansu Fati, the 22-year-old Spanish international striker, on a loan from FC Barcelona for the 2025-2026 season, with an option to buy before completion of the deal.

Born in Bissau (Guinea-Bissau) on October 31, 2002, Ansu Fati grew up in Spain (Andalusia), where he moved at the age of six. He started playing football at CDF Herrera, before moving to Sevilla FC, then joining La Masia, the training centre of FC Barcelona, in 2012.

He made his professional debut with Barca on August 25, 2019, at just 16 years old. A precocious talent, he quickly proved himself in La Liga and the Champions League. On December 10, he scored the winning goal against Inter Milan and became, at 17 years and 40 days, the youngest goalscorer in the competition's history.

He concluded the 2019-2020 season with more than 30 matches for eight goals, and were ranked second in the 2020 Golden Boy award, the trophy rewarding the best under-21 player in Europe.

With FC Barcelona, where he occupied several offensive positions – winger, attacking midfielder, striker – he played a total of 123 matches with 29 goals and 8 assists to his name. He has won two La Liga titles, two Spanish Cups, and two Spanish Super Cups each.

To further strengthen his skills, Ansu Fati was loaned to Brighton & Hove Albion for the 2023-2024 season. In the Premier League, Fati made 27 appearances for the English club with four goals and one assist to his name.

After making his international debut in 2020, Fati went on to participate in the 2022 World Cup and was a part of the Spanish squad that claimed victory in the 2023 Nations League.

This season, Ansu Fati will be making his Ligue 1 debut with AS Monaco, strengthening the Monaco attacking force. The Ligue 1 side recently announced the signing of Paul Pogba and Eric Dier as well.

--IANS

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