The Ansu Fati stat that makes him an ideal Messi replacement

Let’s take a look at a simple Ansu Fati stat that makes him the ideal Leo Messi replacement when the Argentine was the same exact age.

With almost identical minutes played at FC Barcelona, Ansu Fati already surpassed Leo Messi in one simple stat at the same age. He is not even 19 years old yet and he already surpassed his mentor when Leo was the same age. No other player in FC Barcelona’s history scored 15 goals at his age. Messi needed to be 19 years and 259 days to score 13 goals, but Ansu is leaving him out of the race. The last youngster who scored that number before turning 19 is Raul Gonzalez Blanco.

In total, Ansu Fati has already played a total of 2,043 minutes since he made his debut at FC Barcelona. When Messi played 2,042 minutes, he had only reached 11 goals with the Catalan club. You might think it’s far too early to start comparing these two players but we are only talking about a simple stat. There is no way of knowing if the new number ‘10’ will ever reach Leo’s level of performance. He might never get there because it seems impossible. But he certainly made a massive difference against Valencia last weekend.

Players to have scored 13 goals in LaLiga before the age of 19:

Larrinaga (Racing) in 1930
Iraragorri (Athletic) in 1930
Pombo (Racing) in 1934
Raúl (Real Madrid) in 1995
ANSU FATI (Barcelona) in 2021

🧾 Messi notched 13 goals in LaLiga at the age of 19 years and 259 days.
— MisterChip (English) (@MisterChiping) October 17, 2021

Ansu is not just goals on the pitch.

In terms of football creation, Ansu Fati is also one of the most impressive young talents we’ve seen in a while. Last weekend against Valencia, he didn’t just score the goal that gave Barcelona the equalizer. Fati also became a constant danger for Valencia’s defense. Plus, he got a valuable penalty that gave Memphis the chance to score the winner for FC Barcelona.

Even when he doesn’t score, this young player is essential to his side’s football flow. Fortunately, Ansu Fati is choosing to stay at his beloved FC Barcelona despite what his agent thinks. We might be about to witness the birth of a new football star with the potential to become one of the best players in the world. After all is said and done, Ansu’s decision to take Messi’s number might not be as wild as we thought.