Ansu Fati is set to give Barcelona boss Xavi a Christmas present by returning to full fitness. The 19-year-old was injured against Celta Vigo on November 6, but has been working diligently on his recovery and is eyeing the trip to Real Mallorca on January 2 for his return to first-team action.
It had been hoped that Fati would play against Bayern Munich on December 8 as Barcelona emptied all their options in the hope of saving their Champions League season.
But, he wasn’t ready and instead will use the Christmas period as a further period of recovery as the club remain cautious with their prize asset.
The trip to Mallorca will be Barcelona’s first outing of 2022 and will see them resume their LaLiga Santander campaign, after they face Elche and Sevilla as their last two games of 2021.
It was felt that selecting Fati in these fixtures wasn’t worth the risk, despite the lack of goals in the team, a problem that Xavi will hope Fati solves when he does return.
The youngster has barely played any real part in the Blaugrana’s campaign so far, having been recovering from his serious knee injury in the early part of the season, before suffering his hamstring setback in November.
For Xavi, Fati will feel like a new signing as he looks to try to rescue Barcelona’s season in 2022.
