We aim to pick out players and cut through the noise to give analytical, objective insight with the latest focus on Barcelona forward Ansu Fati.
- Age: 20
- Position: Forward
- Club: Barcelona
- Country: Spain
Reports suggest that young Barcelona star Ansu Fati has been offered to 'half of Europe' as a Nou Camp exit is mooted, with Barca keen to bring in another forward, potentially at the 20-year-old's expense.
Fati's start to his senior career has been beset by injuries and his time on the field has proved limited, but might his tendency to appear from the bench be masking his true potential?
The youngster has played a part in all but two of Barcelona's 24 La Liga matches this term, but has only found the net three times, as well as laying on three assists.
On paper, this looks like a modest return, but it should be remembered that Fati has only played 923 minutes this campaign, akin to less than 42 minutes per match.
Used frequently as an impact sub by head coach Xavi, it is thus unlikely he is going to hit the scoring heights of team-mate Robert Lewandowski, who leads the Pichichi race on 15, or Joselu and Karim Benzema, who have hit 11 goals apiece as the main men at Espanyol and Real Madrid respectively.
But a further breakdown of the data suggests that Ansu Fati uses his time on the field to great effect. Per every 90 minutes played, the Guinea-Bissau-born attacker has a greater return in npxG - non-penalty expected goals - than anyone in the league except Lewandowski.
His actual number of goals per 90 minutes stands at 0.27, far below his expected 0.59, but given more time to shine on the pitch, his scoring figures should catch up to his expected rate and set him apart among divisional attacking peers.
What's more, the numbers demonstrate that Fati is no one-trick pony. The Blaugrana man frequently chips in with contributing actions as Barcelona push on towards the title - more often, in fact, than all but three La Liga players, with 0.78 goal-creating actions per 90 minutes.
The Spain international enjoys esteemed company in terms of chance creation, beating the likes of Antoine Griezmann, Raphinha and Luka Modric on that metric.
His meagre game time may count him out of the main stat-leading lists, but from his pound-for-pound contributions it is easy to see why Fati and his agent are preparing for departure - and why big European clubs continue to be linked with him.
