Barcelona record-breaker dealt another injury blow

Barcelona have revealed fading prodigy Ansu Fati will be sidelined for a month after sustaining yet another injury.

The fleet-footed winger toppled a squall of age-related records when he emerged as a first-team option. Fati famously scored an 86th-minute winner against Inter in October 2019 when he was only 17 years and 40 days old, becoming the youngest player in Champions League history to ever find the back of the net.

Despite Lamine Yamal's prodigious start to life at Barca, Fati retains his European record. His spot in the starting XI, however, has long since gone.

Fati has started just one Barca match across all competitions this season, but is not in line for any more minutes over the next month after damaging his right hamstring. As Barca's official website revealed, the 22-year-old is expected to be sidelined for around four weeks.

Fati sat out the first five games of the season with a foot problem and has been plagued by various injury issues ever since he tore his meniscus in November 2020. The Spain international missed more than 300 days of action, losing his electric burst of acceleration in the process.

Roberto De Zerbi gambled on Fati's fitness when he brought him to Brighton & Hove Albion on a loan deal last season. The diminutive forward started brightly, scoring four goals in his first 13 appearances for the Seagulls, before picking up a calf problem in November. Fati wouldn't reappear until February.

Barca have been littered with injury issues this season. Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Marc Bernal have been ruled out for the remainder of the campaign with knee problems. Centre-backs Andreas Christensen and Ronald Araujo are yet to feature this season with respective Achilles and hamstring issues, while there are doubts over the availability of Lamine Yamal.

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