Ansu Fati reveals why he chose Barcelona over Real Madrid

Real Madrid have no lack of great young players in their squad at the moment. One thing that the club have not been able to do in recent years though is transform their academy youngsters into first-team superstars, and most of their success has come in the form of signing the likes of Vinicius Jr, Rodrygo and Federico Valverde as teenagers and then developing them.

Barcelona had a thin spell in that regard as well, when La Masia graduates had seemed to take a back seat to big name signings, but now, the club seem to be depending on their academy youngsters once again.

Gavi has been a breakout star for the club. But even more highly rated than him was Ansu Fati. Barcelona even went as far as to hand him the number 10 jersey after Lionel Messi left. And while he continues to be one of the most highly rated youngsters in the world, there is no doubt that constant injuries have taken away a lot of the early shine.

If things had gone a bit differently, Fati could have ended up at Real Madrid and had even trialled with the club. As reported by AS (via Football Espana), he said:

"“I participated in futsal competitions throughout Spain with Peloteros. We won a tournament in Madrid, where Atletico, Real Madrid, Getafe attended. Before signing for Barca, I had trials at Real Madrid.“At the time, the club had no residence to accommodate its young players. After discussing it with my father, we decided that Barca was the best option, with La Masia, both for football and for my education.”"

Fati reveals why he chose move to Barcelona over Real Madrid

There are serious questions over whether Fati has the ability to deal with the physicality of the senior game, as he has had to deal with a series of injuries in recent times.

Fati has contributed when he has played, but he is not a regular starter in Xavi’s team at the moment.

He is still just 20 years of age though, and has plenty of time to grow into the game. But at the same time, it does not feel like Real Madrid should be too bothered about losing out on Fati. He is a good talent for sure. But there is very little chance that he could have gotten into the Los Blancos’ starting XI ahead of Vinicius.