Ansu Fati’s number ’10’ shirt is not selling as expected, which has led the club and its marketing department to study the situation and perhaps consider other alternatives.
Fati inherited the iconic jersey from Lionel Messi in October 2021. The Argentine had left for Paris Saint Germain on a free transfer that summer, and the Guinea-born sensation was given the ’10’ when signing a contract through 2027 with a €1bn ($1.08bn) release clause.
This showed how much president Joan Laporta and his board considered him the future of the club. Almost a year-and-a-half later, though, the project is falling flat on its face.
On the footballing side of things, Fati has failed to recapture the excellent form he displayed before his knee injuries, and is struggling to earn minutes under first team coach Xavi Hernandez as Barca top La Liga in 2022/2023.
From a marketing point of view, the shirt is not selling as expected according to an AS report, as Fati suffers to live up to its name.
“Right now it is not even among the six best sellers,” a member of staff told the Madrid-based sport newspaper.
“If you want a Fati shirt , you have to ask for the name to be screen printed because we don’t have it in stock,” she added.
Visiting any of the official FC Barcelona stores dotted around the Catalan capital and trying to find a poster of Ansu Fati or his jersey on display is far more difficult than it should be.
At present, the most sold shirts belong to Robert Lewandowski, Pedri and Gavi – which is especially popular with teenagers – with Ronald Araujo, Frenkie de Jong, and Marc-Andre ter Stegen also boasting protagonism.
Aware of the problem, it is said that the marketing department is the most interested at the club when it comes to potentially relaunching the product.
If this development ever came to fruition, giving the number ’10’ would effectively be the beginning of the end for Fati at Barca during a time when it is being suggested that the club is leaking transfer rumors to the press to unsettle him.
Any switch must be done when he has already fled Camp Nou, and not a minute sooner. If Fati is low on confidence now, how will his morale be after such a humiliating move?
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