During the press conference where the 25-man Spanish roster was publicly announced, Luis Enrique had to answer many questions from journalists, but one stood out the most: why wasn’t Ansu Fati on the list? Enrique answered that the player is not ready to be brought on the team at the moment considering his current situation in Barca.
Ansu Fati has been sitting out several games
Many consider this young player the best rising talent in Spain. His strong performances during his time with Barcelona indicate that he has a lot of potentials and could fortify any roster. However, Luis Enrique thinks differently.
Ansu has been suffering from injuries that seem to haunt the player since 2021. At first, he was out of action for 9 months during the 2021-2022 season and returned to receive the number 10 shirt inherited from Lionel Messi himself, a serious move by Barca considering the legacy of one of the greatest footballers of all time. However, right after, Ansu suffered from another injury during the match against Athletic Bilbao.
Since then, he appeared on the field only several times and scored twice. His performance was fine and he showed why he is still one of the best players in Spain even during his recovery, but it wasn’t enough for Enrique to consider him.
Lucho wants only the best
The manager of Spain’s national squad said that he likes how the young talent fits in with the team, but the absence from professional play and the minuscule number of outings create a very pessimistic vision of his participation in the team at the moment. Enrique stressed that he believes that the player will recover and may appear on the World Cup roster, but his current fitness is not on par with what he is looking for in the national team.
It would be a big disappointment for football fans around the globe if one of the most promising stars of the Spanish La Liga won’t make an appearance on the world stage in Qatar later this year.
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