Manchester City have reportedly moved ahead of Juventus in the race to sign Barcelona attacker Ansu Fati.
The 20-year-old is rated highly by Barca's hierarchy, but he has struggled for regular first-team football under head coach Xavi so far this season, starting only six of his 21 appearances in all competitions.
Despite struggling with injuries during his senior career at Camp Nou, Fati has featured 79 times in total for the Catalan giants, scoring 22 goals and providing nine assists, and his performances are understood to have caught the eye of a number of top clubs across Europe.
According to Todofichajes, via Calciomercato, Man City and Juventus have both been 'observing' Fati's progress at Barcelona for some time and are prepared to battle for his signature in 2023.
However, the report adds that Juve are unable to compete with City financially, handing Pep Guardiola's side an advantage in their pursuit of the talented Spanish attacker.
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Barcelona are said to value their 'crown jewel' Fati in the region of €70m (£61.9m), a figure that City would be prepared to pay, although they would prefer to test the waters with an initial offer of €50m (£44.2m).
Fati, who took the iconic No.10 shirt following Lionel Messi's departure in 2021, is under contract at Camp Nou until the summer of 2027 and the attacker is allegedly viewed as one of six 'untouchable' first-team players by Barca.
Although Barca believe that Fati has the potential to become a star player at the club in the future, a report in November claimed that the Spain international is ready to leave the Catalan giants in search of regular game time.
The youngster is currently having to compete with Ousmane Dembele, Raphinha, Ferran Torres and Memphis Depay for a starting berth out wide, while Robert Lewandowski is now a regular fixture as a central striker under Xavi.
Regular first-team football may not be guaranteed for Fati at Man City, though, should a move to the Etihad Stadium come to fruition as Guardiola has a plethora of attacking options at his disposal.
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Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Riyad Mahrez, Bernardo Silva, Julian Alvarez and Cole Palmer have all supported goal machine Erling Braut Haaland in attack this season, while Kevin De Bruyne has also been used in advanced forward roles under Guardiola.
Barca president Joan Laporta has recently talked up Fati's potential at the club and stated that they are unlikely to be active in the January transfer market following a busy summer window.
"We did the work in the summer and at the moment there is no sign of having to make operations. We have a midfield with Busi (Sergio Busquets) as the master of ceremonies, Pedri, Gavi, Frenkie [de Jong], [Franck] Kessie," Laporta told BarcaTV.
"Up front we have men like Ansu Fati in whom we have a lot of hope. There's [Robert] Lewandowski, Ferran [Torres], Raphinha, [Ousmane] Dembele... In defence, we have [Ronald] Araujo at centre-back, with Eric [Garcia] who knows how to get the ball out very well like the great players.
"In goal, in addition to [Marc-Andre] ter Stegen, we have [Inaki] Pena and [Arnau] Tenas. I've forgotten [Alejandro] Balde (laughs). When you talk about a player you have to think about not leaving any out. Jordi Alba has also had a very good World Cup."
Fati, who made two substitute appearances for Spain at the 2022 World Cup, played for just over an hour in Barcelona's 1-1 derby draw at home against Espanyol on New Year's Eve.
Oliver Thomas
