‘Extraordinary’ Barcelona player has snubbed Arsenal transfer

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Arsenal have failed with an approach for Barcelona forward Ansu Fati with neither the player or club keen on the deal.

Ansu Fati has snubbed a potential move to Arsenal and will now be staying with Barcelona beyond the summer transfer deadline.

That is according to a report from Catalan newspaper SPORT, who claim that Arsenal made a ‘serious’ move for Fati.

The Gunners are thought to have been one of the last clubs to have made a move for Fati but the deal won’t be happening.

It’s stated Arsenal made a ‘very tempting’ proposal to Barcelona but both they and Fati have rejected the potential move.

The report therefore claims that Fati will play the season with Barcelona and he doesn’t want to leave, a stance Barcelona respect.

SPORT add that Barcelona did try to send Fati to Wolverhampton Wanderers earlier in the summer as they wanted a swap deal for Ruben Neves.

Agent Jorge Mendes has been pushing for Fati to leave but the forward has remained insistent that he will be staying at Barca – and he looks to have won the battle.

Who is Arsenal target Ansu Fati?

Fati hails from Guinea-Bissau and moved to Seville with his family at the age of just six.

It’s therefore no surprise that Fati spent a couple of years in the Sevilla ranks as a kid – before Barcelona came calling.

Barca brought Fati into the La Masia ranks at just 10 and he has made the long journey into the Barcelona first team.

Unlike many La Masia graduates over the years, Fati didn’t even feature for the Barcelona B team and was instead catapulted into senior action at just 16.

Seven goals in 24 La Liga games during the 2019-20 season made Fati a wonderkid and many were backing him for a huge future.

Injuries have been a real problem though and limited Fati to just 17 league appearances across the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons.

Fati did score seven times in 36 games last season but wasn’t considered a key player under Xavi, sparking the rumours of an exit.

Xavi has branded Fati ‘extraordinary’ but it remains to be seen whether he can really nail down that starting role at the Camp Nou.

Fati is still only 20 though and can play across the frontline, possessing the kind of versatility Mikel Arteta loves.

Arteta is a former Barcelona man himself and may still see the huge potential in Fati, but if SPORT are to be believed, there won’t be a move to North London in the offing.