Tottenham Hotspur lose out on Barcelona’s Ansu Fati

Tottenham has lost out on Barcelona’s Ansu Fati, who will instead be loaned to Brighton. 

Tottenham was on the verge of signing Fati on loan. It was “all but” guaranteed.

As always with Tottenham, a lot can happen in a few hours, as the Barcelona 20-year-old is now headed for the south coast, with Brighton swooping in and hijacking the deal.

Fati was reportedly convinced by Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi. The Brighton gaffer convinced the Spaniard of the merits of joining his project.

Ansu Fati to Brighton, here we go! Deal in place between #BHAFC and Barça as revealed earlier, verbal agreeement now done 🚨🔵✨

◉ NO buy option clause.
◉ Loan deal until June 2024.
◉ Main part of salary covered.

Travel booked on Thursday, Brighton want it signed ASAP. ⭐️ pic.twitter.com/1yHKYArJ9I

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 30, 2023

That leaves Tottenham out in the cold again, still searching for up-front cover. Brennan Johnson is very much still in the mix. In fact, Tottenham may now be forced to pay Nottingham Forest’s £50 million asking price.

The prohibitive price has alienated most would-be suitors, including Daniel Levy, who doesn’t want to pay £50 million.

Surprise, surprise.

Levy tried to offer Davinson Sanchez as part of a swap deal, but Forest was not interested.

Even though Fati was thought to be destined for north London, supporters and the club will have to move on, as it’s clear the talented attacking midfielder will ply his trade at Brighton, at least for the season.

Let’s see if Levy will now pony up and pay Nottingham Forest’s exceedingly high asking price for Johnson. If he doesn’t, Ange might be forced to cope with Richarlison and Richarlison alone up front.

Dane Scarlett isn’t Premier League ready, and Sonny shouldn’t be a No. 9 option.

Hopefully, Levy opens his eyes to the urgent scenario and ponies up, as it looks like Johnson is Tottenham’s only option, an incredibly maddening situation.

• Published on 08/30/2023 at 10:13 PM BST
• Last updated on 08/31/2023 at 3:49 AM BST