Ansu Fati: Neither in the first team or Barca B... that's not good

Ansu Fati is spending a lot of time on the bench of the first team and in the stands of the Johan Cruyff stadium watching his former team-mates than where he should be, on the pitch. Quique Setien's arrival promised a lot but it has not come true. He has been gradually phased out and Martin Braithwaite's arrival makes it even harder.

So why is he not back with the B team? At 17 years old the logical thing to do is to keep him playing for Barca B, if he's not getting minutes. His team-mates Riqui Puig, Collado and Ronald Araujo, who are also involved in the first team sometimes, are moved between the teams.

Ansu played a few minutes as a sub against Real Sociedad and set up a goal for Alba, but it was ruled out as he had moved offside. He has had 17 minutes in the last four matches. Few, for a boy who needs to play, regardless of the level. Perhaps it's because the staff are concerned he might get injured with the B team that will stop him helping out with the first team. But Ansu's situation deserves more thought, about the long-term, about his future. 

With Valverde he played in 10 league games, three UCL matches, and one Spanish Super Cup game. 424 minutes. With Setien he has played 590 minutes, six league matches, three in the Copa and one UCL game. But the problem is that in recent games he has dropped out, with Braithwaite starting ahead of him against Real Sociedad. Not even Luis Suarez's injury has given him more time.