Ansu Fati at risk of needing second surgery because of slow knee recovery
By Tom Gott
Barcelona winger Ansu Fati is not believed to be anywhere close to returning for Ronald Koeman's side as he is still experiencing problems with his knee.
The 18-year-old picked up the injury on November 7 and quickly went under the knife to try and resolve the issue, with the hope of making it back for the Champions League last 16 tie with Paris Saint-Germain on March 10.
Fati was expected to be closing in on a return to light training at this point in the season, but AS claim the teenager's knee is not responding well to any form of exercise and continues to give him real problems.
Barcelona have been unable to step up his recovery plan as Fati's knee has been swelling up as soon as he tries to put any significant pressure on it, so his return to action has been pushed back indefinitely while they search for answers.
The idea of returning to the surgeon has not been ruled out as both Barcelona and Fati are concerned that something may not be right inside the winger's knee.
The man who conducted the surgery, Dr. Ramon Cugat, is said to have taken Fati's recovery personally and is working with both the player and the club every day to try and get to the bottom of this issue.
However, as it stands, everyone involved is in the dark over what could be the problem with Fati, and with Barcelona reluctant to risk the long-term health of one of their most exciting academy graduates of all time, they are not even humouring the idea of him returning to action just yet.
Fati is expected to need the best part of a month back in training before he is able to feature in a competitive game, but the Spaniard will only be allowed to return once Barcelona are 100% certain it is safe to do so.
It's not all doom and gloom for Barcelona as Cadena SER state that Gerard Pique's recovery from his own knee injury is going well, and the centre back has made such good progress that he may well make it back for the first leg against PSG on February 16.
It's expected that Barcelona will push Pique's return date back a few weeks to make sure that he is completely healthy, but the defender is believed to be adamant that he will make it back for that first game against the French side.