Barcelona’s biggest win over the summer might have been preventing Lionel Messi from leaving but Ansu Fati could yet be the one to lead Ronald Koeman’s recovery.
A brilliant start to the season for the 17-year-old continued on Thursday with another goal, his third from Barca’s opening two La Liga games, which have seen them score seven and concede none.
Add in Fati’s first international goal against Ukraine last month, which made him Spain’s youngest ever scorer, and the sense is of a teenager ready to be trusted now by both his club and his country.
Barcelona have needed a player like Fati, his pace and penetration down the left the perfect foil to the more considered creativity of Messi, Antoine Griezmann and Philippe Coutinho.