Barcelona is trying their best to persuade their wonderkid Ansu Fati to sign a new contract with a massive £360m buy-out clause. He has been sensational in the Blaugrana jersey during the 2019-20 season netting 8 goals at such a tender age.
His breakthrough performance has attracted several Premier League giants. Manchester United are primarily interested in the 17-year-old to sign him on a permanent deal.
However, Barcelona want to make sure they keep their future star at Camp Nou for a long time. The Catalans also consider him as the perfect heir to Lionel Messi.
They don’t want to repeat the same mistake that they did for Neymar in 2017. The Brazilian star had a £198m release clause which Paris Saint-Germain paid to sign him. That’s why they want to activate a buy-out clause of such a huge amount to retain him.
Also, Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has shared his opinion recently about Fati’s contract which will expire in 2022.
‘There have been no formal offers but there has been interest from some clubs,’ Bartomeu said to Sport. ‘Barcelona’s answer has been: “No.”‘
‘He’s essential for the future of the club. Ansu is not for sale. He represents the academy the players come out of, learn from and consolidate themselves in the first team.’
‘He’s unique because he jumped from the youth team to the first team. There are not many players like him and Barcelona cannot sell him, even if it would be an economic solution for the club in the times of this pandemic.’
Blaugrana chief added, ‘At no time have we considered selling him. On the contrary: what we have to do is help him in his growth and get him to sign a new contract in the future, so that he plays here.’
‘He signed the contract as a Barcelona B player. Now the plan is to transfer him to the first team,’ said Barcelona president. ‘He’s going to the first team because he’s earned it.’
Similar to Ansu Fati, their academy players Ricki Puig and Ronald Araujo have also been promising for Barcelona in 2019-20 season. So if the Blaugrana want to receive their long-term service, they need to tie them with lucrative contract offers.
