Patience with Ansu: they rule out his ownership this season

One of the great news of the match against Mallorca, apart from the achievement of the three points, was the return to the pitch of Ansu Fati. The striker, who was injured on January 20 in San Mamés against Athletic, accumulated more than a hundred days away from the playing fields. And the truth is that this inactivity was quite noticeable in the fifteen minutes that Xavi gave Ansu. He positioned himself as a center forward, so as not to wear himself out on the wing, but he was seen as somewhat out of place and without finding enough resources to generate play or create danger. “It’s still a bit stiff”, they acknowledge inside the locker rooma situation they consider “normal” in a player who has played only two games all season due to an injury to the biceps femoris in his left leg.

In any case, from the club his first minutes on the field are valued as “very positive”, taking into account that the priority for the technicians is that Ansu can start the preseason in the same conditions as the rest of his teammates. Hence, in no case will there be a rush, managing his minutes, from here to the remainder of the course, with great prudence and caution.

Right now, it is practically ruled out that Fati will start in any of the four games that remain to finish the season. The initial plan is that he repeat between fifteen and twenty minutes on Saturday against Betis, and that three days later he play the same number of minutes against Celta at the Camp Nou. Thus, he will have accumulated practically 60 minutes in three games. If there is no setback, he could add thirty minutes against Getafe, taking into account that he will have had more rest days. Looking ahead to the last game of the season, there would be the possibility that his starting role would be considered, but today the coaches themselves see that option as very far away, although we will have to wait for their feelings in the next games to make a final assessment .

It is necessary to remember that in the club they go with lead feet at the time of evaluating the state of the player and its management of minutes played. The antecedents, with two relapses this season, invite maximum caution. During the match against Mallorca, it was confirmed that Ansu still has a long way to go to be the man he was before, Both physically and mentally. And in the locker room they remember that this “does not recover in days” and that a prudent time is needed to condition the player and to regain all his confidence.

The important thing, they insist within the club, is that the first step has already been taken and that it has been very positive. From now on, it is necessary to accumulate workload and minutes, slowly but surely, with the great challenge that it can be 100% available from August, when the official season of the FC Barcelona.