Future of Barcelona forward may be in question in January transfer window

Barcelona have been unable to reinforce much in the transfer window, with only Pau Victor and Dani Olmo being signed ultimately. While that looks like it could pay dividends in the case of Raphinha, it remains to be seen if the opportunities on offer will galvanise Ferran Torres and Ansu Fati in the same manner.

The latter was one of the prime candidates to leave the club before his injury in preseason ruled him out for a lengthy stint, although he is expected back in September now. One of the sides linked to Fati were Sevilla, but Matteo Moretto has explained to Football España that while there are many sides that were interested in taking the 21-year-old on loan this summer in Spain, he has doubts about whether Sevilla were a realistic candidate for his signature.

Marc-André ter Stegen, Iñigo Martínez, Jules Koundé and Raphinha have so far played every single minute in La Liga. @jcarnesempere

— barcacentre (@barcacentre) September 2, 2024

As things stand, it looks as if he will be fighting it out with Pau Victor to move up from the last spot in the pecking order up front. Moretto also believes that Fati’s future could be in the air come the January transfer window, depending on how things go in the coming months, with Barcelona’s salary limit situation a long way from healthy.

One of the changes that might be seen is that Fati could play through the middle. When he picked up his foot injury this summer, manager Hansi Flick mentioned that he was trying him out as a central striker. Torres and Victor are his competition for the role of Robert Lewandowski’s back-up.