If Ansu Fati can teach us anything, it's that giving up is not an option. The former Barça number 10, a symbolic number he inherited prematurely after the departure of a colossal figure like Leo Messi, is rising from the ashes in France. These haven't been easy months for the Spanish-Guinean footballer. Repeated injuries kept him off the pitch for extended periods. Neither in his final seasons at Barça nor during his loan spell at Brighton did he achieve the continuity necessary to resume his career. Now, however, a miracle seems to be unfolding at Monaco, where he has scored six goals in five matches, although he has only started twice.

In the summer of 2021, Ansu Fati Vieira inherited the number 10 from Lionel Messi naturally. Now he has no choice but to resign himself to leaving and try his luck in another league, the French one. Specifically, at Monaco, a team that likes to play attacking but with the constraint of competing against defenders and physical players. A characteristic that, a priori, isn't the most suitable for his style of play, especially given the performance he can offer. However, he's willing to take advantage of the last bullet. And Barça, even if it's just out of nostalgia, is also giving one last chance to a striker who will turn 23 the day before All Saints' Day. The deal is official as of Tuesday, July 1st at noon.

Barça said goodbye to the rewarding 2024-2025 season. with a victory against Athletic Club (0-3) thanks to two goals from Robert Lewandowski and one from Dani Olmo from the penalty spot. Here are some quick notes on the match.

"Xavi, I arrived late because people stopped me on the metro, forgive me," Ansu Fati told Xavi Martín, looking bewildered by what had just happened to him. He was returning to La Masia from his parents' house – that day he was due to make his Barça first-team debut, at just 16 years old. "I went to my office, grabbed the front pages of the newspapers and told him: 'They stopped you for that. And from now on, you have to change your habits because you're a well-known person,'" Xavi Martín, director of La Masía between 2019 and 2021, recalls to ARA. He was also a member of the Barça squad with whom Martín coincided during his time as director of La Masia. The list includes Lamine Yamal, Cubarsí, Balde, Casadó, Marc Bernal, Fermín and Gavi. He still keeps in touch with many of them. The latter two were at La Masia because their families lived outside of Catalonia, but the club also believes the Blaugrana home is the best place for players experiencing difficult situations. This was the case with Lamine Yamal. "The decision was based on his situation from a family perspective. There could be more dysfunctional families or those who lived in difficult areas. There were players who needed academic, nutritional, sleep, and rest monitoring," Martín explained during the interview at his home in Vilassar de Mar.

A Barça team, packed with rotations, made it through the Valladolid clash (1-2) and can now focus on Tuesday's semifinal return leg in Milan. Here are four quick takeaways from the Blaugrana victory in Zorrilla.

A Barça full of rotations made it through the match in Valladolid (1-2) And now they can look ahead to Tuesday's semifinal return to Milan. Here are four quick notes from the Blaugrana triumph in Zorrilla.

The sun is shining as we leave the office, the fields are green, the trees have blossomed, the reservoirs are around 65% full, and Barça can still win it all. This is what spring 2025 looks like for thousands of Catalans, for now. Despite the setback, Saturday in the League against Betis, Barcelona fans are approaching the next two months with an enthusiasm they haven't had since 2019, one that takes them back to 2009 and 2015. The hungry stomachs of Lamine Yamal, Pedri, Raphinha and company are giving millions of Barça fans butterflies. The next test, on Wednesday (9 p.m., M. Champions League) against Borussia Dortmund in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals, will demand the best version of a team in which Ansu Fati is a wilted flower amidst the green shoots.

Ansu Fati begins to see the light at the end of the tunnel. The squad's star player completed part of Tuesday's training session with the squad for the first time since injuring the inner meniscus in his left knee on 7 November 2020 in a match against Betis at the Camp Nou. His return is getting closer and closer, but although some reports point to the Liga clash against Sevilla at the Sánchez Pizjuán on 11 September as a possible date to see Ansu play again, the Catalan club do not want to set a specific date for his return and say that the Spanish-Guinean player will suit up when he is ready to do so.