21st October, 2021
Barcelona youngster, Ansu Fati who signed a new long-term term contract until 2027, has said he endorsed the deal because it is his ‘dream’ to keep playing at Camp Nou.
The 18-year-old broke into Barcelona’s first-team aged 16 towards the end of 2019 but recently returned from a knee injury that forced him to miss most of last season.
Upon his return, he is already playing a starring role in the team and has been assigned Lionel Messi’s old number 10 shirt.
Fati who penned his new deal on Thursday now has a €1bn release clause matching that of fellow teenager Pedri, who has also recently signed a new deal.
Speaking on his new deal, “I’m very grateful to the club and the president for their confidence in me and giving me this opportunity to stay here for more years,” Fati said as he addressed the media on Thursday.
“As I’ve said, it’s always been my dream to be able to triumph here and play here. I’m able to keep doing that and I’m very grateful for that. I’ll keep working hard every day to improve as a person and as a player and to give the club everything they need from me.
“Like I’ve said to Jorge (Mendes), from day one, my first option was to stay at Barça. They understood that perfectly and with the president, we were able to reach an agreement.
“I’m very happy that the club has the confidence in me. It could be that I had offers from outside, but I wanted to be really clear and my dream was to stay here and be a success here.”