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Manchester United agreed to sign Spanish wonderkid Ansu Fati in the summer – but Barcelona refused to sanction the deal despite the enormous financial losses they are facing.
United decided to make a move for the 18-year old after failing to secure a deal for Jadon Sancho, and were ready to pay £133 million to bring him to Old Trafford, negotiating the move through agent Jorge Mendes.
Fati has made a highly impressive start to his professional career, although he is currently out of action with a knee injury which could force him to miss four months of the season.
He has played 42 times for Barcelona, scoring 13 goals and five assists and, after acquiring Spanish citizenship last September, he has broken into the national side for his adopted country, and ahs been capped four times.
Barcelona have debts of over €700 million (£625 million) and selling Fati would have helped generate much needed funds. However, he is considered too valuable on the plying side to allow him to join a European rival.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.