Barcelona forward suffers major injury setback ahead of new campaign

The 21-year-old is back with the Catalan giants this summer after spending the 2023-24 campaign on loan at Brighton & Hove Albion, and he is said to be in Hansi Flick's plans for the new season.

However, Fati has suffered a major injury setback ahead of 2024-25, with Barcelona revealing that he is facing a period on the sidelines with a problem that he suffered during Wednesday morning's training session.

"In training today, first team player Ansu Fati suffered a foot injury. He will undergo conservative treatment in Barcelona and his return to training will be determined by his recovery time," read a club statement.

Barcelona have not put a timeframe on his absence, but according to journalist Toni Juanmarti, the Spaniard is expected to be on the sidelines for at least the next three weeks.

Fati 'facing' three weeks on the sidelines due to foot problem

Juanmarti claims that the injury occurred when a teammate accidentally stamped on his foot, and he is set to miss three weeks of football, but there is a chance that the recovery could be longer.

However, Fati has reportedly been reassured by head coach Flick that he remains firmly in his plans for the new campaign, with the injury not changing anything in the manager's mind.

The 10-time Spain international broke into the Barcelona first team in 2019, and he has represented the Catalan giants on 112 occasions, scoring 29 goals and registering 10 assists in the process.

Fati made 33 appearances for Barcelona in 2019-20, but he was then restricted to just 25 outings in all competitions over the next two seasons due to injury problems.

Will Fati stay at Barcelona this summer?

Flick is said to be counting on Fati for the new campaign, with the forward set to be given the chance to put his fitness problems behind him.

He made 51 appearances in all competitions for the Catalan giants in 2022-23, but last September, it was confirmed that Brighton had secured his signature on a season-long loan.

Fati made 27 appearances for the Seagulls, scoring four times and registering one assist, with 19 of those outings coming in the Premier League.

There is no doubting his quality, but it remains to be seen whether the attacker can put his fitness issues behind him, and his latest problem is yet another setback.

Fati is now expected to miss Barcelona's pre-season tour of the United States, but he should be back in time for the team's first match of the new La Liga campaign against Valencia on August 17.