Manchester United’s failed €100m bid for Ansu Fati uncovered
Manchester United’s failed €100m bid for Ansu Fati uncovered. Manchester United are reported to have made an enormous offer to sign winger Ansu Fati from Barcelona when the young forward was just 17 years of age.
Fati was deemed worthy of inheriting Lionel Messi‘s legendary number 10 shirt at Camp Nou in 2021, but things could have turned out very differently.
Sadly, series of injuries have badly hampered Fati’s continued development in recent years. He suffered a severe knee problem less than two months after officially becoming a full member of Barcelona’s first-team in the autumn of 2020. A hamstring injury then hindered his comeback season in 2021/22.
Fati made 51 appearances across all competitions the following campaign, but he spent last season on loan at Brighton & Hove Albion, even before a calf issue cropped up. A foot injury delayed his start to 2024/25, and has so far managed only two minutes across all competitions, and the likelihood of ever fulfilling the potential he showed at the age of 16, continues to grow slimmer.
Fati was aged 16 years and 298 days when he made his Barcelona debut in August 2019, at that time the club’s youngest player since 1941. He scored his first goal six days later, and achieved a number of records and feats throughout that maiden season.
The Athletic has now noted that Fati’s breakthrough prompted Manchester United to offer €100m (£83m at today’s exchange rate) for his services in the summer of 2020.
Barcelona upped Fati’s release clause to €170m from €100m in December 2019. It then rose to €400m when he formally joined the first-team in 2020 and now stands at €1bn.
In 2020, under the management of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, United often targeted young talents that could be developed in-house following several high profile disappointments from going after more established stars. The club also spent big on Amad Diallo, a transfer which is only really starting to pay off now, as well as recruiting Facundo Pellistri the same year.
