Ansu Fati Chooses Spain Over Portugal
Despite being eligible to play for Portugal, Barcelona wunderkind Ansu Fati has expressed his desire to represent the Spanish national team, according to SPORT.
Ansu Fati was born in Guinea-Bissau, but also identifies as Spanish having lived in Spain for most of his life.
To play for La Furia Roja, however, he will first need to gain Spanish citizenship.
According to SPORT, the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has made inquires on the Barcelona forward’s behalf in an effort to expedite the process ahead of the Under-17 World Cup which gets underway in Brazil on 26 October.
Ansu Fati moved to Seville with his family when he was six years old, and after impressing with local side CDF Herrera, was recruited by Barcelona’s La Masia in 2012.
He shot to world prominence in August after becoming the second-youngest player to appear for Barca in LaLiga when he came on for fellow academy graduate Carlos Perez in the 5-2 defeat of Real Betis at Camp Nou.
A week later, he opened his goalscoring account for the blaugrana in a 2-2 draw with Osasuna.
