On Sunday, in Barcelona's 1-0 win over Villarreal, Ferran Torres lumbered off the bench and jogged onto the pitch with 20 minutes remaining. He touched the ball a total of four times and had little discernible impact on the game.
For our purposes, though, the quality of his performance was irrelevant. Far more important was the fact that Torres had made it off the sidelines ahead of Ansu Fati.
The still-promising 20-year-old winger sulked from the bench as Torres joined what had become a relatively mild kickabout. Fati's exclusion was a continuation of a spell of limited gametime for the Spain international, and perhaps a clear indication of where his future lies. Right now, it doesn't appear to be at Barcelona.
Fati has played 22 minutes in his last two league games, and hasn't scored a goal in La Liga since October. And when he's been on the pitch, his performance levels have dropped notably.
Fati plays with the uncertainty of a footballer trying to do too much. Decisions are slowed, and chances are missed. The spark that made the La Masia product so impactful when he burst onto the scene in 2019 has gone missing. Inevitably, the transfer rumours have now begun, with their Europa League play-off opponents, Manchester United, one of the teams being heavily linked with signing him.
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Getty ImagesIt must be established that Ansu Fati is not necessarily going to leave Barcelona. He doesn't have to. He could still go on to be the charming, homegrown success story that many felt he would become a few years ago.
Having been at the club since the age of 10, Fati broke a litany of records during his first year in the Barca first-team, including breaking the record as the youngest-ever goalscorer in the Champions League. The NXGN 2021 winner was being tipped to be Lionel Messi's heir apparent, and was even handed the No.10 shirt when the Argentine departed in the summer of 2021.
That things have taken a turn for the worse is perhaps just the nature of football. Fati's story of injury and frustration is hardly new.
In November 2020, he tore his meniscus and, after undergoing three bouts of surgery, was ruled out for the remainder of the season, missing the European Championship as a result. A number of false dawns in terms of him being able to return to the side followed in 2021-22, and he wasn't able to put together a run of availability until April.
By that time, manager Xavi had established his favourites, and the still-recovering Fati was not one of them. Regardless, the manager insisted that he could carve out a role for the youngster, asking Fati to abandon his preferred left-wing position and evolve into a central striker.
“I am very happy for Ansu's return, he is a special player. He has a goal in him. In training, he accidentally scores. Right now I see him more as a '9'," Xavi said last May.
It's an experiment that hasn't gone as planned so far. Fati has started just three games as a No.9, and failed to score in each of them. And in a Barca side that includes one of Europe's best goalscorers in Robert Lewandowski, Fati isn't going to have many opportunities to learn how to fail.
Getty ImagesExit rumours, in this case, do make a lot of sense. Fati is still clearly a top talent who needs to play, but is caught in a system that won't bring out his best. Barcelona as a club, meanwhile, are still in financial trouble, and need to balance the books this summer to address areas of need at full-back and central midfield. Selling Fati, then, looks like a win-win.
And the trendy rumour is, inevitably, United. Almost by default, the Red Devils are linked with pretty much every disgruntled star at other elite clubs. It's in their DNA.
But while some marriages make sense - namely the Frenkie de Jong saga of last summer - this one does not. Manchester United don't need Ansu Fati, and Ansu Fati doesn't need Manchester United.
The positional fit is an awkward one. United are in the hunt for a striker, ideally a traditional No.9 with enough legs to work in Erik Ten Hag's dynamic attack. Although they brought in Wout Weghorst in January, the 30-year-old Netherlands international is not a long-term solution. And neither is Fati in that position.
For all of Xavi's insistence that Fati could play through the middle, his best performances have come from wider positions, usually on the left. Indeed, he tallied eight goal contributions as a 16-year-old playing as an inverted winger.
That would present a problem, namely because United have the prolific Marcus Rashford playing off the left-hand side, and if his current form holds, he is unlikely to surrender any of his minutes. If Fati wants playing time, Manchester is not the city for him.
Getty ImagesSo, where to, Ansu?
A move to another Spanish team probably makes the most sense, as La Liga seems to be the ideal environment for the flea-like winger. The Messi comparison is burdensome and far-fetched, but he does play the game with a similar buzz and swagger as the former Barca legend.
But Xavi won't be happy to let the Fati depart for another Spanish side. The player's potential is frightening, and although a Liga club would likely shell out a hefty sum, Barca likely have little interest in sending such a promising player to a league rival.
It's probable, then, that the player either stays at Barca or departs for another top five league. At his age and archetype, and with a certain Kylian Mbappe potentially moving on, Fati does seem to be a comfortable fit at Paris Saint-Germain. PSG, however, will likely want someone more established should they lose their star player this summer.
Regardless, Fati's future at Barcelona is in jeopardy, and on Thursday he faces a club that many believe he could join this summer. Simply put, it wouldn't be a good match.