The heir leaves forever

BarcelonaAnsu Fati was baptized as the heir because he was considered the natural successor to Leo Messi. Fast, skillful, cunning, a goalscorer... he had all the qualities to be Barça's new star. So much so that, with the departure of the Rosario forward, Ansu went on to wear the number 10 on his shirt. He seemed like a natural successor. But this fairy tale began to go wrong on November 7, 2020, when he tore his meniscus in a league match against Betis. A ordeal began that would lead him to undergo surgery up to four times and a slow and unsatisfactory recovery. Ansu would never be the same again. This June 30, he has ceased to be a Barça player for all intents and purposes.

At 23 years old, this winger from Guinea-Bissau, naturalized Spanish and trained at La Masia, will continue his career at Monaco, a club where he has already played on loan this season. It has been precisely in the French league where Ansu has rediscovered football and good feelings. He has played 30 matches and scored 12 goals, his best scoring record since he turned professional. A real luxury for a player who in the 24/25 season had only been able to play 11 matches and had not scored any goals, or who in the 23/24 season, when he played on loan at English Brighton & Hove Albion, played 27 matches but only scored 4 goals and provided one assist.

Monaco had until June 30 to exercise the purchase option for 11 million euros, which the Principality club has finally agreed to pay, even though the timings have been a little later than they would have liked at the blaugrana offices. In any case, this money entering the coffers is very welcome in an entity that will use it to enter the 1:1 rule and have the possibility to operate normally in this transfer market that is just starting.

Ansu's departure, in addition to providing accounting benefits, also frees up between 10 and 12 million euros in salary mass. Precisely, Ansu's emoluments had been a double obstacle for Barça, since, despite going on loan to Monaco, the winger continued to collect part of his salary from the blaugrana coffers. It all starts with the big renewal he signed in October 2021, when no one suspected he could be affected by the meniscus operation. If he was Messi's heir, he had to have a salary in line with that, and he agreed to earn around 15 million euros gross per season. The agreement was until 2027. Money that ceased to make sense when Ansu relapsed from his injuries.

Both in the Premier League and Ligue 1, Barça paid part of Ansu Fati's salary because the destination clubs could not fully afford it, despite it being a loan. The difference with Monaco is that, before leaving, Barça agreed to a downward renewal with the Guinean winger, in such a way that he guaranteed to earn the same total amount but spread over more years. Now that he has transferred his federative rights to the Principality club, Ansu benefits from Monegasque tax advantages to continue earning approximately the same, even if it does not represent such a high monetary burden for his club of origin.

Despite his departure, Ansu's intention had always been to succeed at Barça, but injuries prevented it. After his spell at Brighton, Ansu tried his luck again at a blaugrana team that had just signed Hansi Flick. The Guinean's role was testimonial and the German coach recommended a new loan for him to get minutes. Although Barça has transferred his federative rights, it has a buy-back option of around 28 million euros which he already signed in the loan contract with Monaco last season. Today, no one on the sporting commission is considering exercising it. But in football, you never know.

Andreas Christensen is finalizing his renewal

Besides Ansu Fati, Tuesday has also been an intense day for Andreas Christensen, who is finalizing his renewal with Barça. The Danish center-back, who has just recovered from a new long-term injury, had his contract ending in 2026, but the Catalan club did not want to let him go because, despite not being a hypothetical starting center-back for Flick, he is a player of high level, experience, and background, which is why the coach preferred to keep him in the squad. Furthermore, he is a player with a good reputation, and with the renewal, the Blaugranas guarantee to keep him as their property in case in the not-too-distant future an interesting offer arrives and they can make money from a transfer. In parallel, the renewal also helps Christensen to stay in a top team and have more visibility while he progressively regains his competitive rhythm.