The Spanish have been told there might be a problem with Ansu Fati’s move to Albion.
A full week after the Barcelona man arrived on loan, readers of sports daily Marca were given something to digest with their chocolate and churros in the morning.
(Okay, it is probably a bit warm for that particular delicacy at the moment).
The potential snag of which they were advised was that Ansu might not be get into the Albion team.
Which in turn would not be ideal for his return to top form and sharpness.
Now, bear in mind this is a Madrid-based newspaper writing about one of Barcelona’s favourite players.
Anyway, Alberto Rubio told Marca readers: “Mitoma, Joao Pedro, March, Ferguson - they won’t make it easy for him to get into the XI.”
The piece then went through all Ansu’s possible roles and assessed the competition.
Kaoru Mitoma on the left, Evan Ferguson as No.9 (with a nod as well to Danny Welbeck), Joao Pedro and Julio Enciso as second striker or No.10.
And Hailsham’s finest Solly March down the right, although the piece recognised this was the role Ansu is least likely to play.
If Roberto De Zerbi saw the article, he will have enjoyed it.
Because Ansu Fati is not here to play 90 minutes of every game.
The Albion boss has been spinning plates for a while now, keeping players physically and mentally sharp.
Some very rarely step down. Lewis Dunk, Pervis Estupinan and Pascal Gross are three seemingly immovables.
Mitoma and March are very close to that status but ideally De Zerbi would have options.
Other positions have regular changes.
De Zerbi’s plan also involves keeping all his men involved.
If he can’t do it with minutes on the pitch, he will do it in training and, sometimes it seems, with little messages via the media.
And if he is talking like that to us, one can imagine he is constantly giving similar messages behind the scenes.
When citing some of the young talent he has during his press conference after the Newcastle game, he mentioned Enciso and Facundo Buonanotte.
Enciso is currently out injured - which is why Ansu is here in the first place - and Buonanotte is not getting a look-in.
Not for now, at least, but that will change when Europa League and Carabao Cup are added to the agenda.
De Zerbi did it last season with Enciso.
During those several months when one wondered whether the Paraguayan was struggling to make an impact, the boss would drop his name into press conferences.
Then, when Enciso exploded into a blaze of Premier League glory, De Zerbi was playing it the other way, highlighting what he he had NOT done so well.
Yes, he bigged up Evan Ferguson after the Newcastle game.
Actually he went two better than that by saying he will be “big, big, big” but there have also been regular reminders that the teenager must work to be more than a goalscorer.
Among the Ferguson fever last Saturday night, I asked RDZ a question about Jan Paul van Hecke.
His enthusiastic response, saying he was almost lost for words for the defender’s progress, made our back page this week.
The quotes clearly went down well with fans.
But the answer to the follow-up was maybe just as interesting.
When I asked whether it was Van Hecke’s work and confidence on the ball which had improved most markedly, the head coach went off in a different direction.
De Zerbi replied: “He deserved to play but, from September 16 until the end of October, we will play ten games and we can’t fix our first XI.
“We have 22, 23 players and everyone can play and can start in the first XI.”
Keep everyone ready. Feeling involved.
Adam Webster, for example, was out of the side on that day but he will return.
When he does, he will be expected to play with huge confidence, to put his foot on the ball, to thread passes through the eye of a needle in areas where the price for a mistake is high.
We have seen nothing yet of Igor Julio in the league but at some stage he will be flung in to face quality opponents who have several games under their belts.
Which brings us back to Ansu. When will we see him and in which role?
Of the attacking players, the closest Albion have to an automatic selection is the man who plays in Ansu’s favoured role.
But Mitoma was left out against Wolves last season and the player who took his place was Enciso, now laid low by injury and replaced in the group by the man from Barca.
“The position wide on the left is the one which possibly Ansu has played most and performed best among the elite,” Marca readers were told.
“However in Brighton this position has a name - Kaoru Mitoma.”
In his piece, Rubio believes the role to which Ansu looks best suited is what the Spanish call the media punta or half centre-forward.
“He will find a double obstacle there,” he wrote, referring to Joao Pedro and Enciso.
But Enciso is out injured while Joao Pedro has already been used in rotation.
De Zerbi likes a lot of what he sees from the Brazilian but wants to work on his final product or final decision.
The boss said: “I think the potential of Joao Pedro is fantastic.
“He has to improve in the last 20 metres because he can shoot more times at goal.
“He has to be more tough but I’m happy with his performance for sure.”
So, yes, competition is tough. But is it even competition?
They are all working together, bringing the best out of each other.
“Nine, ten, seven, eleven. Where we need,” was De Zerbi’s answer when asked where Ansu would play.
“If Ansu Fati plays 20 games with his quality, it is enough.”
So then. “A problem for Ansu Fati,” read the Marca headline.
Problem? Not at all. A problem would be if he did not have quality around him.
If he was not pushed as hard as possible. If he could get minutes without being at his best.
Albion can use and not use Ansu as RDZ sees fit and that can only be good for all concerned.
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