PETE JENSON: Brighton have signed a gem in Ansu Fati…but the Barcelona starlet must rebuild his confidence after an injury nightmare forced him to endure FOUR knee surgery.

. Brighton has finalized the loan signing of Ansu Fati from Barcelona.
. The 20-year-old is a tremendous talent, but he has been plagued by injuries.
. Fati played only 46 minutes of LaLiga football for Barcelona this season.

After Spain’s World Cup round-of-16 elimination last year, manager Luis Enrique was asked if he would do anything differently.

‘I would change it, there is one I wouldn’t pick,’ he stated of his team decision.

He has never publicly said who he was referring to, but the general belief is that he was referring to new Brighton forward Ansu Fati.

He was the final player picked to the World Cup squad, despite only appearing in three games for Barcelona that season.

But, as the youngest scorer in Spanish history, he remained the country’s best prospect of accomplishing more than just making up the numbers in Qatar.

He only played 44 minutes in the tournament and did not appear in any of Spain’s four games. There were rumors that his demeanor had fallen short of what Enrique desired.

It wasn’t so much that he didn’t care as he didn’t believe.

The similar symptom was observed in Barcelona.

Four knee procedures had put a halt to his rapid rise, and it appeared that even when he healed physically, he had not recovered mentally.

Fearless was the player that tore his meniscus in November 2020. His battle to regain full fitness had eroded his faith in his own abilities.

So Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi is in for a challenge with his new loan signing.

The good news is that the exceptional raw resources are still available for use. Fati has had a difficult time in Barcelona.

He made his first-team debut at the age of 16 years and 298 days. That was even younger than Lionel Messi was on his debut.

The pair seemed to click in a way that seemed to highlight Fati’s specialness, but when Messi departed the club, and many supporters argued that his No10 shirt should be retired, Fati was asked if he would take it.

He stated that he had no objections to the concept as long as the dressing room was agreed upon.

The club required a new icon, therefore he began the first season without Messi, bearing new burdens.

He still managed four league goals, but for someone they had put so much faith in, Barcelona were swiftly losing patience, and he never received the run he needed last season.

This summer, the club wanted him out from the start of the transfer window, and with the window still open three weeks into the new season, Xavi sent him a clear message by giving him only 11 minutes in the first match of the season, 21, in the second, and 14 in the third.