Penniless and migrant are the words that summed up Ansu Fati’s childhood. But, the youngster and his family never gave up despite the myriad of difficulties.
“There were many days of suffering and pain, but also a lot of learning. It helped me to appreciate little details” – Ansu Fati
Today, Ansu Fati has achieved his biggest dream of becoming a professional footballer. But during his meteoric rise, he’s been struck down by all sorts of injuries and instead of giving up, Fati has decided to fight all the way to come back stronger than before.
Ansu Fati’s amazing journey
Anssumane Abdoulaye Fati was born and raised in one of the poorest countries in Africa (Bissau) on October 31, 2002. Far from luxury and splendor, the Fati family was close-knit. They worked out many solutions to improve their lives, but one day, Bori, the head of the family decided to leave to go somewhere where he could provide his family with what they needed. And so, he turned towards Europe to find work.
When he arrived in Sevilla, in the South of Spain, the former footballer was left with no choice but to make do with any job available.
Bori Fati worked on the building site for the high-speed railway, harvested olives, collected glasses in the nightclub. This, he did for many years and was earning money.
One day, a neighbor of his gave financial help to bring his family to Spain. Ansu was only seven when he arrived in Herrera. A day didn’t pass without the kid touching football.
Little Ansu joined a local club as soon as he arrived and discovered a new way of playing his favorite sport. Going from playing on dust to the state of the art pitches.
Despite his new surroundings, Ansu had no time to waste, he was clearly better than all his peers so much his first coach couldn’t believe what he was seeing; the gap was enormous between him and his friends both technically and tactically.
In the Under 11, where kids are leading and combining play, Fati had it all. The little boy was flourishing as a young footballer, however, the financial problems were piling up.
Sometimes, Ansu played without boots because his parents couldn’t afford them but that didn’t deter him from achieving his dream. Because when money was a problem, his passion for the game remained perfectly intact.
Fati impressed everyone wherever he went, played in match barefooted and in swimming tracks. Despite some concerns, the boy was allowed to play and against all odds, he left everyone speechless.
Everyone in attendance that day was left with asking questions about where Ansu Fati came from. At the same time, Ansu’s older brother (Braima Fati) was also showing football potential.
Braima Fati was the first to be recognized by a major team, Sevilla. He signed up for the Andalusian club side when he was a teenager. Not long after, Ansu joined him and the duo have the chance to change their family’s life.
For two years, Ansu learned about the demands of the Spanish approach and he learned a lot at Sevilla. In 2012, his destiny changed drastically. The Fati brothers were courted by the Spanish top two teams, Real Madrid and Barcelona.
It was a difficult choice but Bori, their father made the smartest decision on his kids’ future. Madrid offered more money but Barca came and had a better project.
In few years, the brothers joined La Masia, Barcelona’s famous academy. Ansu quickly became a star there. He demonstrated incredible skills despite his young age because at this time, the Bissau born was only 10 and he was one of the youngest players in the academy.
He’s the type of player who invents football and he’s also one of the most talented boys to arrive La Masia since Lionel Messi. Ansu was so good that he was often compared to the club’s ultimate legend.
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But not everything was easy. The talent alone doesn’t solve all the problem, he was shining on the pitch but his financial difficulties off-field was still an issue.
Victor Valdes noticed this during a youth tournament in Russia ;
“First time that I had him with me, he had a lot of pain. I tried to find a solution to the problem so I asked him to show me his shoes and they were in a terrible state.”
“This pain came from that. And so, I bought him a new pair so he’d feel better.” – Victor Valdes, Mundo Deportivo, 2019.
This act didn’t mean so much to Valdes, but for the young Ansu Fati? It marked a total turnaround. In his head, the teenager felt obliged to honor the gift, and from that moment on, he worked tirelessly.
He used his skills to shine on the pitch, but off-field, he still realized there was a long way to go. So, Ansu worked even harder to achieve his goal.
Becoming A Star At Barcelona
As years passed, Fati’s name came up more and more. On August 25, 2019, he made his big debut in professional football. On that day, Fati was only 16 years and 298 days old, history was made.
But that was just the beginning as series of incredible youth records followed. The youngest goalscorer in the Champions League history, the youngest player to score goals in La Liga, the youngest player to score and assist in the Spanish League, but that’s still not all.
The youngster’s hard work started paying off when he earned his first call up into the Spanish National Team in September 2019, Ansu Fati obtained Spanish nationality. That again was followed by strings of youth records.
At 17 years 311 days, he became the youngest goalscorer in La Roja’s history. Barca’s protege was making remarkable progress but the good times never last.
Ansu started another campaign at top speed with his club; this 2020-2021 campaign was made for Fati at Barca, but a serious meniscus injury stopped him in his tracks.
The young striker underwent surgery to come back as quickly as he could but nothing seems to have gone as planned. During his recovery, the talented forward got injured again, pushing his return to the competition back even further.
Despite all this, Ansu Fati has kept an incredible positive mindset. He knows that the works he has to carry out will be long and tedious but it doesn’t seem like he’s going to give up even if his recovery will take a longer time, he’s ready to fight.
Like always, and even if it’s not always easy, he shouldn’t give up. Getting injured, operations, injured again, all these setbacks will serve as fuel to the youngster’s motivation.
He’s obviously still young. He shouldn’t rush his return. With a lot of hard work and determination, he’ll be able to pick up where he left off, because sometimes falling simply teaches us how to get back up again even stronger.
This allows us to learn how to fall and better overcome problems. If you’re fighting to achieve your dream, never give up.
Ansu Fati is hanging on fighting, battling. So should you.
