Here are some facts about the Spanish footballer Ansu Fati.
- Ansu Fati’s full name is Anssumane Fati Vieira.
- He was born on 31 October 2002 in Guinea-Bissau in Africa.
- When he was six years old he moved to Herrera (near Seville) with in Spain with his family.
- He comes from a family of footballers. His father, Bori Fati, played football in Portugal, and his older brother, Braima Fati, played matches for the FC Barcelona B team and for K. Patro Eisden Maasmechelen in Belgium.
- As a child, Ansu played for his local club Herrera. After that he played for the Sevilla youth teams, and then he joined Barcelona’s youth academy (La Maisa) when he was ten years old.
- In 2019 he signed his first professional contract with Barcelona, and on 25 August 2019, he made his Barcelona debut in La Liga when he came on as a sub. He was only 16 years and 298 days old, making him Barcelona’s second youngest player of all time.
- He became Barcelona’s youngest ever goalscorer when he scored against Osasuna on 31 August 2019, aged 16 years and 318 days.
- He became a Spanish citizen in September 2019, and he made his debut for the Spanish Under-21 team on 20 August 2020.
- He made his full international debut on 3 September 2020, and he scored his first international goal on 6 September 2020, becoming Spain’s youngest ever goalscorer (at 17 years and 311 days).
- He broke his leg when he was thirteen and was forced to miss almost a full year of football.
- After he made his Barcelona debut, he gained 500,000 Instagram followers in just two days. His account now has more than 4 million and it’s growing all the time.
- He is a very versatile attacking player and can play in several different positions. Albert Puig (the former technical director of Barcelona’s football academy) said he is able to play as a 9, 11, 7, or 10 (on both wings, and as either striker).
- The Barcelona contract he signed as a 16-year-old has a €100 million release clause.
- At the Barcelona academy, he was good friends with Takefusa Kobo (dubbed the Japanese Messi).
- Ansu’s younger brother, Miguel, is friends with Thiago Messi (Lionel Messi‘s son).
- In the FIFA 21 videogame, Fati received an 89 score for Agility and Acceleration, an 87 for Sprint Speed, and an 82 for Balance.
- In September 2020, Algerian rapper BX wrote a song about him called Ansu Fati is Not for Sale.
- On 27 September, Ansu Fati couldn’t win the Man of Match Award for his performance against Villarreal because he was too young (at 17). The sponsor of the award was Budweiser, a beer manufacturer, and Fati is still too young to drink alcohol.
- During the 2020/2021 season, Fati wore Nike Mercurial Vapor XIII Elite football boots / cleats.
