Tottenham Hotspur missed out on signing Barcelona talent Ansu Fati despite him having a ‘long chat’ with Ange Postecoglou.
Ansu Fati has turned his back on Tottenham Hotspur after being persuaded by Roberto De Zerbi. That’s according to BBC Sport, who claim Fati was ready to join Spurs before De Zerbi intervened. Barcelona were happy to sign Fati on loan before the summer transfer window as they felt he would not play a key role under Xavi this season.
After receiving stardom at Camp Nou and Lionel Messi’s 10-shirt endorsement, Fati had to get back on track after a difficult few seasons – and opted for a move to the Premier League. Ansu Fati had a “long talk” with Ange Postecoglou about a move to Tottenham Hotspur
English clubs were surprisingly excited that Fati had previously seen his talent and potential in a Barcelona shirt. The possibility of a purchase was certainly not in the mind of Barcelona; they just wanted a loan to see Fati progress before returning to Camp Nou.
Tottenham Hotspur were very interested as they saw Fati as a versatile forward who can play across the front line.
BBC Sport’s Guillem Balague now reports that Fati had a “long conversation” with Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou.
Tottenham were considered favourites to land Fati with Postecoglou seemingly trying the personal touch in order to tempt Fati.
Brighton and Hove Albion managed to hijack the move though with boss Roberto De Zerbi persuading him to reject Spurs.
It’s stated that Fati and De Zerbi ‘hit it off right from the start’ and the 20-year-old subsequently chose to snub Tottenham after all.
How has Fati fared at Brighton so far?
Fati hasn’t yet started a Premier League game for Brighton but has made three substitute appearances, totalling 116 minutes of action.
The Spaniard scored his first Premier League goal last weekend, hitting Brighton’s only goal in a 6-1 thrashing at Aston Villa.
Fati did land 90 minutes of action against AEK Athens in the Europa League but couldn’t prevent a shock 3-2 home defeat.
Fati has only been on the South Coast for just over a month and, when you factor in the international break, it’s still very much early days for him with the Seagulls.
De Zerbi will be confident that Fati can make a big impact this season – potentially in two games against Tottenham in December and February.
