Man Utd ‘asked Cristiano Ronaldo’s agent about signing Barcelona’s ‘new Messi’ Ansu Fati during transfer talks’
MANCHESTER UNITED asked Cristiano Ronaldo’s agent about signing Barcelona whizkid Ansu Fati during transfer talks.
Fati has just one year remaining on his current Barca deal and was offered to top European clubs - including Manchester City - by agent Jorge Mendes this summer.
And according to Spanish paper Mundo Deportivo, the 18-year-old's agent was ‘asked’ about his availability while hashing out Ronaldo’s deal to United last month.
Super agent Mendes has represented Ronaldo for over 18 years and also has Jose Mourinho, David De Gea and Ruben Dias on his roster.
Fati is widely regarded as the future of Barcelona after the cash strapped Catalans were forced to release Lionel Messi this summer and loan Antoine Griezmann back to Atletico Madrid.
The teenage prodigy has been dubbed the ‘new Messi’ by fans after the club entrusted him with the Argentinian’s famous No10 shirt.
Spanish papers also reported United had struck an agreement in principle to land Fati for a whopping £133million in 2020.
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But their hopes of signing the wonderkid were canned when the La Liga giants halted transfer talks and inserted a £357m release clause into his contract.
Fati broke into Barca’s team in August 2019 as a 16-year-old and went onto score seven goals in 24 La Liga appearances during his breakout season.
He also became the youngest Champions League scorer in the competition's history when he bagged the winner against Inter Milan the following December.
Spain boss Luis Enrique also handed Fati his international debut last year and has four caps so far.
He sustained a serious knee injury last November and only returned at the start of this season.