FC Barcelona Ace Leaves Club On Three-Year Deal

Forbes

3 hours ago

An FC Barcelona star has agreed to leave the club on a three-year contract with a Spanish rival ... More according to SPORT, which cited anonymous sources.
An FC Barcelona star has agreed to leave the club on a three-year contract with a Spanish rival as first reported by SPORT, which cited anonymous sources, but then confirmed by the club on Friday afternoon.
As his fall from grace continues, Ansu Fati was expected to be the first big departure out of the club.
The Lamine Yamal of his era who smashed a number of youngest goalscorer and appearance maker records at club and international level at the turn of the decade was handed Lionel Messi's number 10 shirt when the Argentine fled for Paris Saint-Germain, such were the great expectations made of him.
With injuries complicating his trajectory, however, Fati was sent out on loan to Brighton in the Premier League in 2023/2024 where he failed to impress overall.
Things weren't much better last term under Hansi Flick either. On his return to the club, Fati was unable to convince the German of his worth in a treble-winning season and is being strongly linked with a move to AS Monaco as Barca closes in on Nico Williams for their shared left wing position.
Yet while that potential operation looks to have stalled, Barca has seen another La Masia-produced talent leave its ranks.
As reported on by SPORT and later confirmed by the club, Aleix Garrido is on his way out of the exit door after 13 seasons in Blaugrana - the last two of which were with the reserves who he captained in 2024/2025.
Garrido will join second division Eibar on a three-year deal, and does so as one of the most promising players of the reserve outfit known as Barca Atletic, which is now overseen by the scorer of the winning goal in the 2006 Champions League final Juliano Belletti.
By opting for a transfer away from Catalonia, Garrido is yet another La Masia promise that didn't see a clear path to the first team. Simultaneously, however, there are examples such as that of Marc Casado's, which speak to the value of biding one's time and waiting for the opportunity to come.