Barcelona star’s comeback from injury delayed as Hansi Flick makes key decision | OneFootball

Barcelona forward Ansu Fati is making progress in his recovery from the plantar fasciitis injury that he suffered in late July due to a strong blow he received on his foot from a teammate.

This setback prevented him from joining the American tour, interrupting his positive progression in pre-season under new manager Hansi Flick.

But over the past few days, he has begun training with the rest of the group, leading to suggestions that he will make his season debut against Girona this Sunday.

Flick pushes Fati’s return to next week

However, now, according to Mundo Deportivo, Hansi Flick has decided to wait until next week to call Ansu Fati up to the squad.

Initially, Flick had planned to include the 21-year-old in the squad for the upcoming match against Girona. The idea was to integrate him back into the team’s routine and possibly give him some playing time at Montilivi.

Wait continues. (Photo by Eric Alonso/Getty Images)

However, while the 21-year-old has trained with the group this week, he has done so without completing full sessions.

In fact, the club itself reported that today both Gavi, the man of the day, and Ansu participated only in part of the group training.

In light of this, the technical staff has ultimately chosen to err on the side of caution. They want Fati to complete several full training sessions with the entire group before receiving medical clearance and returning to a matchday squad.

Therefore, rather than rushing his return for the Girona game, Flick and his assistants now envision Ansu potentially returning to play next week.

This could be either in the UEFA Champions League match against AS Monaco on Thursday or in Sunday’s La Liga fixture against Villarreal.

Either way, the expectations on Ansu are high with Flick and his staff being impressed by what they have seen from him in training so far.