Ansu Fati lifts the gloom at Barcelona after Lionel Messi transfer saga

Teenager makes instant impression on the international stage for Spain to provide a slither of light in dark times for his club side Barca

Ansu Fati celebrates after scoring Spain's third goal against Ukraine in the Uefa Nations League match on Sunday, September 6. AFP

Ansu Fati celebrates after scoring Spain's third goal against Ukraine in the Uefa Nations League. AFP

Ansu Fati celebrates after scoring Spain's third goal against Ukraine in the Uefa Nations League. AP Photo

Ansu Fati falls to the turf as he scores Spain's third goal against Ukraine. AP Photo

Ansu Fati shoots to score Spain's third goal against Ukraine. AP Photo

Ansu Fati in action against Ukraine defender Oleksandr Zinchenko. EPA

Ansu Fati controls the ball during Spain's Uefa Nations League match against Ukraine. AP Photo

Ansu Fati attmpts an overhead kick against Ukraine. Reuters

Sergio Ramos celebrates with Ansu Fati (L) after scoring the opening goal for Spain against Ukraine. EPA

Ansu Fati reacts after missing a goalscoring opportunity. AFP

Ferran Torres celebrates with Ansu Fati, right, after scoring Spain's fourth goal. AP Photo

Ferran Torres celebrates with Ansu Fati, right, after scoring Spain's fourth goal. AFP

Quite a welcoming committee was prepared on Monday for a star graduate of Barcelona’s famed academy, for the main headline-maker in Spanish football, for a serial record-breaker, as he clocked in for pre-season practice and various medical protocols.

And yes, there was some attention on Lionel Messi, too.

By claiming centre stage, thanks to his stunning display on his first start for Spain’s national team, 17-year-old Ansu Fati did Messi a bit of a favour, providing a distraction from the suffocating tension and gloom around Barcelona.

Messi has at last reported for duty at Barca after declaring his pessimism about the club and genuinely exploring plans to leave, which he has now reluctantly shelved, at least for a few months.

With Fati’s statement performance in the national jersey, Barcelona found a good news story, after two weeks of Messi melodrama. “He’ll go back home full of joy and I’m happy for him,” beamed Luis Enrique, the Spain manager, after Ansu had inspired the national team’s 4-0 victory over Ukraine in the Uefa Nations League.

Enrique, who gave Fati his Spain debut as a second-half substitute three days earlier against Germany, tends to dilute his praise with caution when speaking about the prodigy, but he lifted his foot off the brakes for a moment. “It’s not normal for someone of his age to have that sort of self-belief," said Enrique. "He still has to mature, but to dare to try everything he did on just his second cap … well!”

The moments of daring were many, and Fati started compiling them from kick-off.

He had won Spain a penalty within two minutes, after a dazzling run, and a neat feint to bamboozle his marker. He launched himself into an overhead kick, goal-bound until it was blocked. He won free-kicks in dangerous places. He combined, from his position wide on the left, intuitively with his overlapping full-back. He tried shots from ambitious distance. He scored Spain’s third goal with precision after a trademark cut inside onto his right foot.

That goal made Ansu the youngest man to ever score for Spain, a landmark he adds to the several he has achieved in a remarkable 12 months.

Just over a year ago, he became Barcelona's youngest scorer. In September 2019, he became the youngest player to start a match, and to score in a senior Liga fixture at Camp Nou. He turned 17 at the end of October. In December he set another record as the youngest scorer in the Champions League.

For most of what turned into a confusing and horribly unsuccessful 2019-20 for Barcelona, Fati was used as an impact substitute more than a starter, but, as he takes orders from his third different manager since he was first promoted to the senior side, he will hope for more responsibilities.

Ronald Koeman, who was given the coaching job shortly after the humiliating 8-2 loss to Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-final, is intent on rebuilding a side that was ageing and declining: Fati looks a marvellous antidote to those problems.

Fati has an ally in Messi, who was demonstrably appreciative and supportive of the Guinea-Bissau-born prodigy when Ansu made his club breakthrough a year ago.

Nobody understands better what it is to rapidly jump through the ranks from La Masia, Barcelona’s youth system, and to manage the hype than La Masia’s all-time greatest graduate. Messi made his first-team debut at Barca just under four months after his 17th birthday.

Not many know better than Messi the burdens of being likened, because of a rapid elevation, to Messi, either.

He witnessed the rise and plateauing of Bojan Krkic, a Barcelona debutant at 17 years and 19 days old. Bojan, now 30, went on to have a good career, though most of it would be spent away from Camp Nou.

More recently, Munir El Haddadi made a sudden, startling impact at Barcelona as an 18-year-old striker, and was accelerated into the senior Spain team within two weeks of his Liga debut in 2014. Munir never won another cap, and now plays for Sevilla, quite often coming off the bench.

Fati’s career prospects look more stellar than Bojan’s or Munir’s, but the next stage will be defined by his partnership with Messi, around whom Barca’s gameplan is designed. With the likely departure of Luis Suarez, Messi’s most productive striking partner through all his time at Barcelona, there is an opening.

As for Koeman, Ansu is both gift and challenge. Nurture him well, and the prospect of life after Messi could come to seem less alarming. Keep the wonderkid too long on the bench, and supporters may turn impatient.