Two days ago, Barcelona announced Ansu Fati has committed his long-term future to the La Liga side. His new deal will run until 2027, and includes a release clause of €1bn.
Liverpool reportedly showed interest in the 18-year-old before the Catalan club tied him down to a new deal.
On October 21st, Cadena COPE’s Helena Condis reported the Reds made an approach to bring the forward to Anfield. She also explained the Merseyside club were ready to ‘double his wages’, but no figures were mentioned.
Journalist Cristina Cubero provides more on this subject in today’s edition of Mundo Deportivo.
Fati suffered a serious injury in November and returned to action last month. When he was recovering from a knee injury, Jürgen Klopp’s side ‘took interest’ in him. They wanted to know about his recovery and also his contractual situation with the Spanish club.
According to Cubero, Liverpool saw the player as a ‘fundamental piece’ of their future project.
In order to convince him, the English club have been willing to offer Fati a salary of €15m, after tax, per year plus a signing on bonus. Their efforts have been in vain as he signed a new contract at the Camp Nou this week.
Cubero states: ‘If the Fati family had thought about money and not about the player’s career, they would have listened to the offers but Ansu said “only Barça”.’
The timing of these reports [after Fati’s renewal] make it look like a PR campaign from Barca to let others know they were successful in holding on to the young star, despite efforts made by other clubs.
It’s also a way of underlining that Fati decided to stay at Barcelona only for sporting reasons.
