Ansu Fati

Anssumane "Ansu" Fati Vieira (born 31 October 2002) is a professional footballer who plays as a left winger for Spanish club Barcelona. Fati was born in Guinea-Bissau but represents Spain internationally.[3]

This article uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Fati and the second or maternal family name is Vieira.
Ansu Fati
Personal information
Full name Anssumane Fati Vieira[1]
Date of birth (2002-10-31) 31 October 2002
Place of birth Bissau, Guinea-Bissau
Height 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)[2]
Playing position(s) Winger
Club information
Current team
 Barcelona
Number 31
Youth career
2009–2010 Herrera
2010–2012 Sevilla
2012–2019 Barcelona
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2019– Barcelona 24 (7)
National team‡
2019– Spain U21 2 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23:24, 19 July 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 14 November 2019

Early and personal life

Born in Guinea-Bissau, Fati moved to Herrera, Seville with his family at the age of six, when his older brother Braima signed for Sevilla.[4] Another brother Miguel is also a footballer.[5]

His father is ex-footballer Bori Fati, who was from Guinea-Bissau. After emigrating to Portugal, he set up some teams in the lower leagues. There, he read a story of the Andalusian town Marinaleda, a self-declared communist utopia located near Seville, that was offering work to immigrants. After begging for food on the streets of Marinaleda, he met the mayor Juan Manuel Sánchez Gordillo and found a job as a driver. He then settled in the nearby town of Herrera, where Ansu spent most of his childhood and started his football training. Though born in Guinea-Bissau, Bori has said he is "a Sevillian".[6][7]

Club career

After representing local side Herrera and the youth teams of Sevilla, he joined Barcelona's La Masia in 2012, aged ten,[8][9] a year after his brother had made the same move.[10]

On 24 July 2019, Fati signed his first professional contract with Barcelona, agreeing to a deal until 2022.[11] On 25 August, before even appearing with the reserves, Fati made his first team – and La Liga – debut, coming on as a late-game substitute for goalscorer Carles Pérez in a 5–2 home win over Real Betis.[12] Aged 16 years and 298 days, he became the second-youngest player to debut for the club, only 18 days older than Vicenç Martínez in 1941.[13]

On 31 August 2019, he scored his first professional goal in a 2–2 away draw between Barcelona and Osasuna at the age of 16 years and 304 days, becoming the Barcelona senior team's youngest goalscorer ever and the third-youngest scorer in the history of La Liga.[14]

On 14 September 2019, in his first career start, Fati became the youngest player in the history of La Liga to score and assist in the same match, at the age of 16 years and 318 days. Fati scored in the 2nd minute and assisted Frenkie de Jong's goal in the 7th minute of an eventual 5–2 home win against Valencia.[15][16]

On 17 September, Fati made his Champions League debut in a 0–0 away draw against Borussia Dortmund, becoming the youngest player to feature for Barcelona in the competition at the age of 16 years and 321 days, breaking the previous record held by Bojan Krkić (17 years and 22 days); he also became the third-youngest player ever to appear in the competition.[17] On 10 December, Fati became the youngest goalscorer in UEFA Champions League history at the age of 17 years and 40 days when he scored the game winner in Barcelona’s 2–1 victory over Inter Milan at the San Siro.[18]

On 2 February 2020, Fati became the youngest player to score a brace in La Liga, scoring both goals in Barcelona’s 2–1 win over Levante UD.[19] On 5 July, Barcelona defeated Villarreal away from home and he scored the fourth goal in the 4-1 win and the goal was the 9,000th in Barça's history.[20]. On 9 July 2020, Fati was sent off after fouling Fernando Calero in the match against Espanyol, Fati just playing 5 minutes after substitute Nélson Semedo in second half.

International career

Fati was originally eligible to represent Guinea-Bissau at international level, but did not represent the nation of his birth at any level. After his debut in La Liga, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) showed interest in him, with Diario AS reporting that the Spanish government had set its sights on granting Fati citizenship with a view to including him in the squad for the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup. He is also reportedly eligible for a Portuguese passport through his grandparents' birth in colonial Portuguese Guinea.[21]

Fati was granted Spanish citizenship on 20 September 2019,[22][23] renouncing his Bissau-Guinean citizenship.[24] He was called up to the Spanish under-21 team on 11 October 2019, following an injury to Carles Pérez.[25] Fati made his debut for the Spanish under-21 team on 15 October 2019 against Montenegro.[26]

Career statistics
As of match played 14 August 2020.[27]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Copa del Rey Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Barcelona 2019–20 La Liga 247305110338
Career total 247305110338
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    References
    1. "Ansu Fati". SEFutbol. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
    2. "Ansu Fati Biography". www.ansufati.net. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
    3. Marsden, Rory. "Barcelona Starlet Ansu Fati Given Spanish Citizenship, National Team Eligibility". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
    4. "Ansu Fati's father explains Barcelona signing: "Madrid offered us better terms..."". Diario AS. 26 August 2019. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
    5. "La saga de los hermanos Fati" [The saga of the Fati brothers] (in Spanish). Sport. 26 November 2017. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
    6. "El fabulós destí d'Ansu Fati, el fill de guineans que va enamorar al Camp Nou" [The fabulous fate of Ansu Fati, the son of Guineans who fell in love with the Camp Nou]. Ara.cat (in Catalan). 26 August 2019. Archived from the original on 26 August 2019. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
    7. Lowe, Sid (16 September 2019). "'A star is born': Ansu Fati announces himself and changes his world". www.theguardian.com. The Guardian.
    8. "Así juega Ansu Fati, joya de la cantera del Barça" [This is how Ansu Fati, the pearl of Barça's youth setup, plays] (in Spanish). Diario de Sevilla. 21 August 2019. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
    9. "Ansu Fati, el sueño de un guineano criado en Herrera se hace realidad" [Ansu Fati, a dream of a Guinean raised in Herrera becomes true] (in Spanish). Diario de Sevilla. 26 August 2019. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
    10. "El Calahorra va lanzado: Braima Fati cambia La Masía por La Planilla" [Calahorra is boosted: Braima Fati swaps La Masía for La Planilla] (in Spanish). NueveCuatroUno. 21 August 2019. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
    11. "Ansu blaugrana fins al 2022" [Ansu blaugrana until 2022] (in Catalan). FC Barcelona. 24 July 2019. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
    12. "Griezmann throws a big Barcelona party". Marca. 25 August 2019. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
    13. "Teenager Fati makes Barcelona history in debut La Liga game". Goal.com. 25 August 2019. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
    14. "Ansu Fati becomes Barcelona's youngest-ever goalscorer with Osasuna strike". Metro. 31 August 2019. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
    15. Shapiro, Michael (14 September 2019). "16-Year-Old Ansu Fati Shines in First Start With Barcelona". SI.com. Archived from the original on 28 September 2019. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
    16. "FC Barcelona 5–2 Valencia: Wow!". FC Barcelona. 14 September 2019. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
    17. "Dortmund 0–0 Barcelona". BBC Sport. 17 September 2019. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
    18. "Ansu Fati Makes History: What We Learned From FC Barcelona Versus Inter Milan". Forbes. Forbes. 10 December 2019. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
    19. "Ansu Fati becomes youngest player to score LaLiga double". AS. 2 February 2020. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
    20. "Ansu Fati scored 9,000th goal of Barça's history vs Villarreal". SPORT. 5 July 2020. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
    21. "Ansu Fati: Spain want to fast-track Barça star into World Cup squad". Diario AS. 29 August 2019. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
    22. Quixano, Jordi (20 September 2019). "Ansu Fati ya es español" [Ansu Fati is already Spanish]. El País. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
    23. "Ansu Fati: Barcelona forward granted Spanish citizenship". September 20, 2019 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
    24. Archived 2019-09-24 at the Wayback Machine "renunciando a su nacionalidad anterior".
    25. "Carles Pérez, baja; Ansu Fati, alta" [Carles Pérez, out; Ansu Fati, called up]. SEFutbol (in Spanish). 11 October 2019.
    26. "Montenegro 0–2 Spain". UEFA. 15 October 2019. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
    27. "Anssumane Fati". Soccerway. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
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