La Masia star Ansu Fati trains with Barça's senior squad for the first time

La Masia star Ansu Fati trains with Barça's senior squad for the first time

Ansu Fati ha entrenado este miércoles por primera vez con Valverde
Ansu Fati ha entrenado este miércoles por primera vez con Valverde | sport

The promising youngster was called up by Ernesto Valverde to take part in Wednesday's training session

Many expect Ansu Fati to be a success in the world of football and, at the moment, he's well on his way to doing that. The Juvenil A winger, one of the star players in La Masia, is valued highly by all the coaching staff at FC Barcelona.

Ansu has already played for Barça B in preseason and was one of their best players throughout the summer. Despite technically being a Juvenil A player, many expect him to play a significant role in the B side this term.

The player himself said a few days ago that his wish was to get more opportunities with Barça B under Garcia Pimienta. This season he'll get to work with Victor Valdes but will be used by the B side should they need him. 

Ansu's enormous talent hasn't been missed by any of the coaching staff at Barça, including Ernesto Valverde, who called him up to train with the senior side this Wednesday. 

Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Ousmane Dembele are out injured so Valverde needs to look at all the available options to him. No doubt it'll be a huge boost to the youngster's confidence to know his development is recognised at the top level. 

The 16-year-old attacker arrived at Barça in 2012 when he was just 10, after spending his earlier years with Sevilla. He's incredibly fast, agile, has great movement and a real eye for goal.

Ansu has primarily been used as a 'false nine' but spent last season on the wing and performed really well there too. He's played in both roles under Garcia Pimienta this summer. 

He suffered a serious injury back in December 2015 but has responded with fine performances. He finished as the Juvenil A side's top scorer last season, netting 15 goals. 

This summer saw a lot of Europe's sides begin to take notice of Ansu and Barça knew they had to lock him down to a fresh contract. He signed a new deal until 2022, when he'll be 19, and has a buyout clause of €100m. The club also has the right to extend the deal by another year.

Ansu is one of Barça's brightest hopes for the future. So far, everything is going to plan.

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