Ansu Fati has had a very eventful Barcelona career so far. After emerging as their ‘next big thing’, the winger was given a huge responsibility after being the proverbial heir to Lionel Messi – with the club opting to give their iconic no.10 kit to him.
Since then, his career hasn’t progressed as smoothly as he or the club would’ve wanted it to go.
Fati has struggled with injuries, holding him back at the tender age of 20. He was only able to make 15 appearances last season, incidentally, the first one wearing the no.10 jersey.
Persistent injuries threatened to end his career prematurely, but the Spaniard has fought on to save his career with the Blaugrana. He has, fortunately, been able to get over his injury bug and stayed free from issues all season long.
Despite that, Barca are still being extra careful in using him – which is why he’s only started five games in all competitions for them this season.
As because Xavi has the luxury of playing quality players ahead of him, he’s used Ansu more as an impactful substitute to change the complexion of some games this season.
He has done a great job coming off the bench and getting goal contributions for Barca. Despite his few starts, Fati has scored 6 goals and provided 3 assists for Barca so far this season.
The latest goal was in their 5-0 demolition of lower-division Spanish side Ceuta in the Copa Del Rey.
After the goal, Fati took a short moment to do a little bit of prayer before continuing with the game.
It was during his praying celebration that fans discovered that he might actually be a Muslim. The 20-year-old’s father Bori Fati is an ex-footballer, who was born in Guinea-Bissau but later travelled to Spain.
There appears to be some kind of confusion over Fati’s religious stance after this. He has admitted in an interview in the past that he and his family are Muslims, but fans have seen some kind of a contradiction in his actions in the past year or so.
Last summer, during pre-season training with Barca, Fati posted a couple of images on his Instagram where he can be seen wearing a cross around his neck.
That automatically made some fans assume that he is a Christian, as his cross appears to be the sign that many Christian devotedly wear.
But there seems to be some kind of context to this. This throwback picture of Fati is one where he is actually wearing an Ankh, better known as the Egyptian key.
It is an ancient symbol which represents ‘eternal life’ and this cross symbolizes promoting life over anything in Christianity.
Despite the confusion, Fati is self-admittedly a Muslim, and his recent celebration confirms the same.
Irrespective of whichever religion he practices, the 20-year-old will hope that fate and lady luck can shine brightly on him going forward – helping him stay free from injuries and enjoy a widely successful career at Barcelona, where he hopes to continue the legacy left behind by Messi.
