Tension between Jorge Mendes and Ansu Fati over proposed Barça exit

The agent-player relationship is always special and goes through all kinds of moments. Both need each other to benefit mutually and, when things work out, tandems always win out and complicities grow. But when things go wrong, tensions often arise. And this is often the case when players lose their status as first-team regulars and either have to leave their teams, or they put pressure on their agents to find a new destination for them. 

And it is often not easy. Between Ansu Fati and his agent, Jorge Mendes, there is now maximum tension. The all-powerful Portuguese representative promised Barcelona he would do everything possible to get the player out and Ansu has stood up and does not want to leave. 

In a situation like this, anything can happen, even a rupture between them, although Mendes invested a lot of time and resources in getting Ansu's representation just when he was about to make the leap to the first team. The agent, perhaps the most astute and professional in the whole market, is very clear that the player has neither present nor future at Barça and as the manager of his career he is obliged to make him see reason. Not to do Barça a favour, but to do the boy a favour. Because another blank season for Ansu could be a decisive blow for his career.

Mendes still feels capable of convincing the player and his family that the best thing to do is to move. He has tried to place him in the best teams in the Premier League, but there are doubts and he has not achieved the desired offer that Barça expect. That is why he proposed that he should go to Wolves as part of a swap deal with Rúben Neves plus €30 million euros for the Catalan club. In short, an operation that would have brought an economic benefit of around €60m for Barça. And the clear solution to register players.

Barça would have given the OK to this option, but Ansu has been stubborn because he wants to stay and because he does not want to play for Wolves, even if Mendes has promised him that it will be an impasse in his career. This route seems totally dead at the moment and difficult to resurrect and now it remains to be seen if another proposal, even a minor one, comes along that is to the liking of all parties. Difficult, but for Mendes nothing is impossible.

Time is short and Barça need solutions. But Mendes knows that if he tightens the rope too much, the relationship between him and the player could end up breaking for good. The Blaugrana are committed to do their part because they need departures and will also put pressure on Ansu, but he has the upper hand.