It’s only a couple of months since Ansu Fati signed up for Brighton & Hove Albion, and he has already started to show off his brilliance, both on and off the field. The golden boy from Barcelona has already scored 3 goals in 8 starts for the Seagulls.
But what impressed the fans more was his improvement in English speaking skills. After the game against Ajax in the UEFA Europa League, he went on for a short interview with a reporter and addressed all the questions in English, for the first time ever.
Notably, the countries rich in producing high-quality football talents, such as Spain, Portugal, Argentina, and Brazil, only to name a few, don’t necessarily equip their players with the ability to speak English. As a professional footballer, it also becomes challenging to learn new skills, in this case, to learn English, with all the training and rehab process going on every day.
For Ansu, who could already speak Portuguese, Spanish and Catalan, the improvements he made in his English speaking skills are commendable, given that he was absolutely foreign to the language prior to joining Brighton. (Remember his first interview in a Brighton shirt was in Spanish?)
The La Masia graduate is in a battle to prove his worth to Xavi (Head Coach at Barcelona) and regain his spot in the star-studded Catalonia side, and it seems the teenager is on the verge of redemption under Brighton Coach Roberto De Zerbi. He has already netted 3 goals and opened his tally in the Europa League, and fans from both clubs would be hoping for the young lad to regain his form.
With an ample number of translators present around players these days, Ansu at least has less of a burden right now to hone his English skills. He is bound to Brighton on a season-long loan deal, and with no commitments made on his future at the Seagulls (or England), Ansu will be more focused on getting back his golden touch than mastering English proficiency.
