Garcia Pimienta ‘absolutely convinced’ €15m Barcelona player will be as great as before | OneFootball

Ansu Fati got his first start under Hansi Flick since returning to FC Barcelona last summer in the match against Sevilla. The Spaniard played for 76 minutes in this game, but his performance made it clear that he still needs some time before getting back to his best level.

The winger got several chances to score, as he played more centrally than near the touchline, but he was unable to open his scoring account in this game. His shots lacked precision, and in his 32 touches on the ball, he lost possession 3 times, while also making 4 recoveries.

Flick himself admitted after the match that Fati still had to make some improvements, but as SPORT has reported, the opposition coach, Garcia Pimienta, also spoke about Fati’s performance in this game:

Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images

“Ansu is an incredible footballer, we already know that. I know him well from his time in the youth and reserve teams… and, well, he comes back from the misfortune of an injury, which in the end affects a lot.”

“He rejoined the team and faced the competition there is at Barça, but I am absolutely convinced that he will return to being the great player he was before. He’s a competitive beast and works hard.”

While he spoke about his confidence in Fati’s abilities publicly this time, Pimienta has long been reported to have a lot of confidence in the Barcelona winger. As he himself commented, he knows the forward well from his time in the Barcelona youth system. Fati was also linked with Sevilla in the summer.

However, he ended up staying at the Catalan club, mainly because of the injury he suffered before the tour of the USA. Now, having gotten his first start under Flick, the €15m-rated La Masia graduate will be looking to get more opportunities, especially in the upcoming week with the important matches against Bayern Munich and Real Madrid.