Ansu Fati is back in Barcelona’s squad to face Levante on Saturday after 10 months out with a knee injury. The left-back has been named in Ernesto Valverde’s 18-man squad for the La Liga game at Camp Nou, but it remains unclear whether he will be risked.
Ansu Fati is back in the Barcelona squad to face Levante after 10 months out. The player was injured on October 8th, 2017 and will be returning to action on January 19th, 2018.
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Ansu Fati, a Barcelona striker, is expected to return to play this weekend after a 10-month layoff due to a severe knee injury.
Ansu, 18, has not played since hurting his left knee’s meniscus in a 5-2 victory against Real Betis in November. The issue was fixed after many surgeries, but the Spain international returned to full training in September and was named to the team for Sunday’s LaLiga match against Levante.
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Ansu, who just took over Lionel Messi’s No.10 jersey, is only fit for a “maximum of 15 minutes,” according to coach Ronald Koeman, who also cautioned that he might be out for a long time.
“Having him back is extremely significant, first and foremost for the player himself, since he has been away for a long time,” Koeman remarked at a press conference on Saturday. “We have a strategy with him, and we will stick to it to make sure he returns safely.”
“It will take some time for him to return to where he was before to the accident. We won’t try to run with him until we’ve learned to walk. It will be determined by his reaction and medical team briefings. We’re talking about a young player who will bring a lot of value to the club, but we must take things slowly.”
Ansu was Barca’s leading scorer last season at the time of his injury, with five goals in ten appearances. He had been the club’s youngest ever scorer in LaLiga and the youngest player in the Champions League for any side during the previous season.
He has made 41 appearances for the first squad, scoring 13 goals in the process.
After a ten-month absence, Ansu Fati has rejoined the Barcelona team. Getty Images/Joan Valls/Urbanandsport/NurPhoto
His comeback comes at a time when Barcelona is struggling to score goals. They haven’t won in three games and have only scored once, in a 1-1 tie with Granada on Monday, followed by a goalless draw with Cadiz on Thursday.
In addition to Ansu, Koeman has been missing strikers Ousmane Dembele, Martin Braithwaite, and Sergio Aguero due to injury this season, while Messi, Antoine Griezmann, and Francisco Trincao all departed the club in the summer.
“Our assault is restricted,” the Dutch coach said. “We’ve lost a lot of big guys because we’re talking about individuals that can play wide, run at defenders, and have speed.” It’s usually more difficult to defend against us when this happens.
“We attempt to find our own style of play, but it’s tough when we don’t have enough wingers to play on the wings.” We have fullbacks who pretend to be wingers, but they aren’t. And [the guys who are now playing wide] are those who like to play on the inside.
“We’ve accomplished a lot since the beginning of the season. As coach, I’ve accepted player departures for the club’s financial benefit.”
Recent defeats have intensified the pressure on Koeman, who will serve a touchline suspension after being sent off against Cadiz on Sunday, with insiders informing ESPN that the club is already looking for alternatives.
When questioned about his future, Koeman said, “For a long now I haven’t been reading the news very much.” “I’m aware of the rumors. I have no choice except to concentrate on winning games.”
Jordi Alba, Pedri, Dembele, Aguero, and Braithwaite all be out for Barcelona’s encounter against Levante this weekend, while Frenkie de Jong is serving a one-match suspension.
The Catalans will then play two away games next week, first at Benfica in the Champions League and then at the Wanda Metropolitano against defending champions Atletico Madrid on Saturday.
Ansu Fati has been called up to the Barcelona squad for their match against Levante. The midfielder has been out of action since October 2016 due to a knee injury. Reference: ansu fati latest news.
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