Manchester United willing to splash £153m to sign Ansu Fati
According to Spanish publication Mundo Deportivo (h/t Daily Mail), Manchester United are ready to splurge a mind-boggling £153m (€170m), to sign Barcelona’s teenage wonderkid Ansu Fati.
The 17-year-old Fati, a product of the famed La Masia youth academy, enjoyed a breakthrough 2019/20 season with the Catalans. He ended the season with a return of eight goals and one assist from 33 matches in all competitions. (h/t Transfermarkt)
Fati became the youngest ever goalscorer in the UEFA Champions League at 17 years and 40 days when he fired Barcelona to a 2-1 win over Inter Milan in the group stages.
This has seemingly put him on Manchester United’s radar, with the club now intent on signing him, so much so that the Red Devils are willing to splash £153m to complete the transfer this summer.
This is because Fati’s current release clause will rise to a mammoth £360m once he pens a new contract with Barcelona this summer. And United are keen on getting the deal done before that happens. (h/t Daily Mail)
This does come as a surprise considering that we have been unwilling to pay £108m to capture the signing of our primary target Jadon Sancho. (h/t Daily Mail)
Indeed, club officials are only willing to offer between £60m and £70m up front for the 20-year-old England international, and pay the rest of the fee in instalments.
So the suggestion that United would be willing to break the transfer record and pay nearly £45m more than Sancho’s valuation to sign Fati, who has just one full season under his belt does seem a bit outlandish.
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Fati is surely a special talent. But shelling out big money for him when we can sign Sancho for a lesser amount makes absolutely no sense.
With all our rivals making overtures into the transfer market already, it is time Ed Woodward & co. also step up the transfer activity, as the new season closes in.
