Concern at Barcelona about forward Ansu Fati's fitness post-injury
The Spain forward has lost resistance, explosiveness, speed and power
Ansu turned down surgery in January in favour of conservative treatment
Ansu Fati was called up ny Luis Enrique for the UEFA Nations League. He did not play one minute. In reality, the Spain coach wanted to see firsthand how the player was doing in spirit and physically after his injury.
In terms of the first point, all is good, but the precaution with which his minutes in matches were managed was a result of the same precaution with which Xavi Hernandez managed him at the end of the season.
There's a certain amount of concern at Barcelona and among the club's medical staff over Ansu's fitness.
The journalist Achraf Ben Ayad set the alarm bells ringing on Twitter: "He's still not ready to compete at the top level, he is a long way from being level. Barça believe he committed a big error not having surgery."
SPORT have confirmed that the concern is real and that the player has undertaken several tests to check on his fitness. In one of them was he at the level necessary for high-level competition in comparison to his results before his injuries. He has lost resistance, explosiveness, speed and power, which means the medical team continue to monitor him closely.
There is even a fear that he will never 100% recover the qualities he had before physically. Obviously, the talent and the eye for goals remain intact (six in 15 appearances this season).
After four operations, he decided not to operate in January when he hurt his hamstring in contrast to advice from club medics. He preferred more conservative treatment.
Despite that, the player will have a month of to disconnect and, at the same time, keep working on his recovery. The objective is to arrive for preseason recharged and ready to play a big role next season.
