It has been a pretty meteoric rise for Ansu Fati at Barcelona over recent weeks.
Most people have heard about him until recently, yet he has already faced a great dilemma of choosing national teams.
Barcelona‘s new teenage sensation Ansu Fati, who recently became the club’s youngest goalscorer ever, has seemingly decided to represent one of the two European countries he is eligible to play for over his African country of birth.
The 16-year-old wrote his name into the Blaugrana’s history books with his first senior goal in a 2-2 draw with Osasuna earlier in this campaign. Fati, who was born in Guinea-Bissau but moved to Spain with his family at the age of six, has risen to stardom in the absence of the injured Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi this season. He scored his first senior goal for the club at the age of 16 years and 298 days, breaking the record held by Vincenc Martinez, who was 18 days older in 1941.
As a consequence, Barca coach Ernesto Valverde reportedly sees the youngster as a valuable asset for his team for now, and it is understood that Spain now want to fast-track an application for him to represent them at international level.
“I want to play for Spain,” he said, as quoted by SPORT.
Fati has reportedly informed Barcelona of his decision to play for Spain, and they will now assist him in the process. In order to represent Spain, he needs to gain Spanish citizenship, which means his father needs to apply for a Spanish passport first.
The reports adds that the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has made inquires on the Barcelona forward’s behalf in an effort to expedite the process ahead of the Under-17 World Cup which gets underway in Brazil on 26 October.
With the U-17 World Cup taking place in Brazil between 26 October and 17 November, Spain are believed to be keen to call him up for the showpiece. Fati is also eligible to play for his country of birth Guinea-Bissau, as well as 2016 European Championship winners Portugal due to the African nation being a former colony of the Iberian country.
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