Barcelona Rumors: Lionel Messi's 'Heir Apparent' Set For Barca Return – Report

While Lionel Messi has yet to sign a contract extension deal with Barcelona, his future heir apparent could be all set for his return.

Ansu Fati quickly came to prominence after he bagged eight goals in 29 games for Barcelona in his maiden season with the first team. However, a devastating knee injury in November 2020 saw him being sidelined for almost the entirety of the past campaign.

In the upcoming season, Fati is about to make his return as he is now allowed to join the pre-season training on July 12 after being cleared by Barcelona’s doctors, Marca reported.

However, the 18-year-old’s comeback will not be at full throttle as he will first train alone “until he gradually gets back to a good pace,” the report said. Hence, Barca would need to be “very careful” in managing Fati if the club hopes to have him back on the squad for the first game of the season on Aug. 14 or 15, according to the report.

Prior to Fati’s latest progress, Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman admitted that the forward has been experiencing some troubles in his rehabilitation. If things go well for the youngster, Koeman bared that the Barca rising star could be back “next season.”

“I haven’t yet spoken with Ansu [Fati],” Koeman said in May. “[But] I did speak with him before his [fourth surgery]. Poor kid, it’s taking a long time. Yes, there are things that haven’t gone well [in his recovery] but I don’t want to go into any more detail.”

“Five or six months is a long time,” the manager pointed out. “The most important thing is that he’s going to recover, he’s going to get well and that he’ll be with us. It’s too bad that it’ll only be for next season. It’s important that we’re missing a player like him, but the most important thing is that he recovers well and returns to playing.”

Before missing out on the rest of the 2020-21 season, Fati was on a hot start, having notched a total of five goals in just 10 matches for Barcelona across all competitions.

Even before making his mark on Koeman’s squad, Fati has already been touted as Messi’s successor at Barcelona — a title the six-time Ballon d’Or winner himself gave him.

“I really like him and I try to help and support him,” Messi said of Fati in 2019. “I’d like them [Barcelona] to bring him on gradually, like they did with me when I started, taking things nice and easy and without putting pressure on him.”