Valverde says Ansu Fati has ‘something special’

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But Barcelona must protect the youngster

Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde says Ansu Fati has “something special” but knows the club must protect him from the inevitable hype.

The 16-year-old stole the headlines on Saturday after scoring and assisting on his full debut in Barcelona’s 5-2 win over Valencia.

Valverde was inevitably asked about the youngster in his post-match press conference and made it clear how highly he rates the teenager.

“There’s going to be a lot of hype with Ansu -- a lot. What we have to do is try and keep it down. Our job is to protect the player.

”But there’s no denying Ansu is a player who has something special. He seems much more mature than his age. We saw things [against Valencia] that we see in training.

“It’s not easy to be a Barcelona player, especially for a player as young as Ansu. It’s not normal to score with your first touch and to assist with your second. This performance was a bit exaggerated in that sense.

”Things will even themselves out. We want him to get to know the league and to see how complicated it is [playing for Barcelona]. The kid is still developing.”

Source | ESPN

Barcelona’s win was just their second of the season but sets them up nicely for Tuesday’s trip to Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League.

Source: barcablaugranes.com