The U17 World Cup kicks off at the end of October with most players likely to miss a few games for their club’s youth sides, but that shouldn’t be too much of an issue.
Things might be a bit different if a player is already part of their first team. Ansu Fati has completely broken through into the Barcelona squad, but he was still expected to miss a few games as he took part for Spain in the tournament. The Spanish FA were so keen to have him playing that The Guardian reported they fast tracked his passport to ensure he was eligible.
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It appears the old club vs country argument has started again with the news the youngster is set to miss the tournament to avoid a clash between the FA and Barcelona:
? Informa @isaacfouto
? Ansu Fati NO jugará el Mundial Sub 17 con España
? Irá convocado próximamente con la Sub 21 para evitar un conflicto con el Barça
? La @rfef seguirá su evolución de cerca por si pudiera estar presente con la absoluta en la @EURO2020#PartidazoCOPE pic.twitter.com/Y9NlhDha6o
— El Partidazo de COPE (@partidazocope) September 26, 2019
The tweet confirms he won’t play in the U17 World Cup but is expected to play for the U21 side at some point when it means he won’t miss any games for Barca. They also suggest Spain will keep an eye on his form as a possible outside chance to get him into the main squad for Euro 2020.
He is still eligible to play for Portugal so it’s possible they want to see him capped at senior level as soon as possible to ensure he gets tied down.
It’s a shame for viewers of the upcoming World Cup as you always want to see the best players playing, let’s just hope he’s getting regular minutes for Barcelona during the tournament to justify his exclusion.