Until a few weeks ago, not many people in Spain had heard of Ansu Fati, the 16-year-old winger from Guinea-Bissau who has enjoyed an extraordinary rise since making his Barcelona debut in August.
In September, aged 16 years and 321 days, he became the youngest player to appear for Barca in the Champions League. He had made his first-team debut the previous month, coming off the bench against Real Betis, and a week later he scored his first goal, against Osasuna, again as a substitute.
He made his first senior start against Valencia, scoring a second-minute goal and also providing an assist, and then played an hour in a goalless draw at Borussia Dortmund.
“There’s going to be a lot of hype with Ansu – a lot,” said Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde after the Valencia game. “What we have to do is try to keep it down. Our job is to protect the player. “But there’s no denying Ansu is a player who has something special. He seems much more mature than his age. We saw things [against Valencia] that we see in training.
“It’s not easy to be a Barcelona player, especially for a player as young as Ansu. It’s not normal to score with your first touch and to assist with your second. This performance was a bit exaggerated in that sense.
Esta historia es de la edición October 2019 de World Soccer.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición October 2019 de World Soccer.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
Going for Gold in Paris- There are plenty of candidates vying for the Olympic gold medal in the women's football tournament this summer
There are plenty of candidates vying for the Olympic gold medal in the women's football tournament this summer
Face to face - Tom Sainfiet- The final goal is to reach the World Cup and write history - The Belgian coach speaks to World Soccer
The well-travelled Belgian coach speaks to World Soccer after taking charge of the Philippines-his 11th international coaching role
Inter cruise to title number 20
Simone Inzaghi's Internazionale shrug off all challengers before sealing the Serie A title in style against their biggest rivals
HAT-TRICK HERO
Ademola Lookman wrote his name into European football's history books with a hat-trick in the Europa League final
GOING UP
The story of Sweden striker Viktor Gyokeres' career has been one of upward trajectory - and there's plenty more to come from the Sporting superstar
Palau soldier on alone
The isolated Pacific nation faces a long and lonely battle to improve football on the island
Brazilian clubs eye Copa number six
As the Copa Libertadores group stage concludes, a sixth consecutive Brazilian winner is looking likely
AI Hilal sweep to another Saudi crown
The first edition of the Saudi Pro League's glamorous new era ends with a familiar title winner
Disasters brewing
There is still a long way to go in World Cup qualifying, but dysfunction reigns at Cameroon, Congo and Nigeria after four matchdays in the group stage
Second round of World Cup qualifying underway
Favourites perform largely as expected, yet Cayman Islands dominate the headlines