Ansu Fati has moved closer to extending his Barcelona contract, with his agent Jorge Mendes arriving in the city for talks with the club's board.
Fati's current deal is set to expire at the end of the season, although Barça do have the option to extend that by another two years.
Despite this, the Blaugrana are keen for the forward to sign a longer-term contract as he is one of their great hopes for the future. Marca report that negotiations will begin imminently following Mendes' arrival in Barcelona on Thursday and further talks are expected in the coming days as the two parties seek to hammer out an agreement.
Fati burst onto the scene during the 2019/20 campaign, before suffering a knee injury in a game against Real Betis early last season. The issue has plagued him ever since and he has been forced to undergo surgery on no less than three occasions.
He is expected to return in mid-October, which will be a huge boost for Barcelona boss Ronald Koeman.
The club have endured a nightmare 18 months with Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann all leaving. This has weakened their frontline significantly with Luuk de Jong starting up top with Memphis Depay during their recent Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich.
Fati's return would add some much-needed inventiveness to their attack and the club clearly have high hopes, awarding him Messi's iconic number 10 shirt in the summer.
In terms of his new contract, Barcelona's dire financial situation should not be too much of a hinderance. The club's four captains have all been forced to take pay cuts in recent times but as Fati is still on the deal he signed as a youngster, he is not earning anywhere near what some of the senior players in the squad are.
This article was originally published on 90min as Barcelona to open Ansu Fati contract talks imminently.
Source: www.90min.com