Revealed: Why Barcelona are planning new five-year contract for Ansu Fati - despite being desperate to sell injury-prone former wonderkid

According to a report from SPORT, Barcelona are planning to hand Ansu Fati a fresh five-year deal. Fati is currently among the top earners at Barca with a salary of around €13-14 million, and with no potential suitors ready to buy him yet, it has now been revealed why the player is being offered a new deal.

Barcelona are eager to offload Fati and remove his hefty wages from the wage bill, but the player is unlikely to accept any move, as he wants to succeed at the club. With his current deal running until 2027, the club is considering offering him a new five-year contract until 2030 with a significant pay cut. This would spread the €26m he is set to earn over the next two years across the full term of the new contract, allowing the club to save money in the short term.

When Hansi Flick arrived as the new Barca boss ahead of the ongoing season, reports from Spain revealed that the German manager was going to count upon the former wonderkid. "I have congratulated Ansu on his return. I have a lot of appreciation for him and he is going to do very well," Flick said in September after Fati marked his return to fitness following a cameo in the Champions League.

However, the 22-year-old has struggled to turn his fortunes around, with Flick regularly leaving him out of Barcelona's matchday squads. A summer departure seems inevitable, although the player is unwilling to seek pastures new.

Currently atop the La Liga table with 60 points, same as rivals Real Madrid, Flick and Co. will face a gruelling fixture calendar in the coming weeks as they are set to play nine games over the next four weeks. Their upcoming assignment is a home game against Osasuna on Thursday, March 27.