Reported Liverpool target’s father lets rip in uncompromising tirade against his current club

Empire of the Kop

·29 March 2023

Reported Liverpool target’s father lets rip in uncompromising tirade against his current club

The father of one reported Liverpool transfer target has issued an angry tirade against his current club and manager.

Last month, Ben Jacobs wrote in his weekly exclusive CaughtOffside column that the Reds are interested in Ansu Fati.

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The Barcelona forward has only started nine LaLiga games so far this season (Transfermarkt), and his dad was asked by Spanish radio station Cadena Cope [via 90min] why Xavi hasn’t been playing the 20-year-old more often, to which Bori Fati curtly replied: “Good question, ask him.”

The winger’s dad also took aim at the club’s former president Josep Maria Bartomeu for refuting offers which had been presented to him by the player’s agent Jorge Mendes.

Fati Sr fumed: “I as a father am angry, yes. Maybe I’m not right, but I don’t have a problem with that. Everybody knows who Mendes is. He told me two years ago that he had offers and Bartomeu didn’t want to listen to them.”

Bori then revealed that he’d spoken to Barcelona’s director of football Mateu Almemany about his son’s lack of game-time, saying: “I called Mateu. I think we deserve much more. When you are at Barça you know where you are and that there are many internationals. But we are talking about Barcelona’s [number] ten.

“If this continues like this I’m going to Seville, that’s it. I didn’t go to the game against Madrid, why not. Right now I’m not going to the stadium anymore. I have my box and I’m not going anymore.”

This is quite an astonishing public outburst from Bori Fati, and one can only wonder what Liverpool’s powerbrokers would make of it in relation to their apparent interest in his son.

If Ansu is just as disenchanted over his sparsity of starts for Barcelona as his father is, he could be quite open to walking away from Camp Nou, which might play into the Anfield club’s hands.

However, there are also a few red flags pinned to a potential move for the 20-year-old.

As per Jacobs for CaughtOffside, he could cost around €100m (£88m), which is a lot to fork out for a player who’s missed a lot of football through injuries even at his age (Transfermarkt).

Also, while capable of playing anywhere across the forward line, Fati is primarily a left winger, a position where Liverpool are already spoiled for choice with Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo and Diogo Jota, so he couldn’t be guaranteed regular starts at Anfield either.

The uncompromising manner with which his father has let rip at Barcelona could be another deterrent, as Jurgen Klopp might be reluctant to become involved with a player whose family may be prone to picking battles in public.

Liverpool’s summer transfer budget will only stretch so far, especially if we miss out on Champions League qualification, and it could be better spent on other players and areas of the squad.

#Ep73 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: Author chat with Chris Roberts on Football, Mental Health… and more!