When Ansu Fati started tying up his boots to come on in the 35th minute of Barcelona’s match against Osasuna, it seemed like the perfect scenario for the out-of-form winger to make an impression.

Gavi had felt some physical discomfort and made way for his fellow La Masia graduate Fati. Osasuna were playing with 10 men after Jorge Herrando had been sent off and it was fair to assume they had their minds on the Copa del Rey final they will play on Saturday against Real Madrid.

Away from the Camp Nou, however, a storm was brewing around Fati.

While the match was being played, the 20-year-old’s father, Bori Fati, was pictured arriving in his car at the plush Nobu Hotel, about three kilometres away from the stadium. Fati’s agent, Jorge Mendes, was waiting for him.

Mendes represents three Barca players — Fati, Alejandro Balde and the 15-year-old Lamine Yamal — but Fati’s case is the most prominent. The Portuguese agent was in the Catalan capital to hold meetings with him and discuss how they will approach the summer transfer window.

It was telling that agent and father did not appear to care about what happened on the pitch, where Fati had a golden opportunity to fight for his future at the club with Barca’s La Liga title all but wrapped up.

As the end of the season draws closer, the prospect of Fati being sold in the summer feels more and more likely. Multiple agents and sources involved with Barcelona assume he will be one of the players offloaded by the club to ease their financial problems.

Suggestions Fati will leave are nothing new, but they have grown with the forward’s inability to respond to that noise on the pitch. Fati’s confidence has fallen dramatically after struggling with injuries and he looks far from the exciting player who made a name for himself in 2019.

That was clear once again in the 1-0 win against Osasuna. Fati missed multiple chances that the promising young winger coming through a few years ago would surely have buried.

Fati produced six shots, only one of which was on target. His anxiety in front of goal translated to the stands, too. Fans know he is struggling, and it might be too late for him to come back from that — even if Barca boss Xavi defended him afterwards.

“I think he’s played very well, honestly,” Xavi said. “He missed only one thing, which was finding the goal.

“The bottom line of his game is what happened on his last chance.”

Xavi was referring to a solo run undertaken by Fati towards the end of the game which seemed to sum up his recent form. Fati surged forward, helped by Robert Lewandowski’s clever movement to drag defenders out of the way, and took aim with his right boot. The shot went wide.

“He dribbled nicely, ran faster and shot well but didn’t find the goal. That was it for Ansu, but his game was good,” Xavi added.

But the legendary former Barca midfielder got to the heart of the matter when he addressed the speculation over Fati’s future.

“What does not help him, nor any player, is that while they are fighting for the league title they have to see in the media that they are for sale,” Xavi said. “Then we want them to score goals and do everything right. Today I saw a front cover from a newspaper (referring to Spanish sports daily El Mundo Deportivo) that was saying Ansu Fati could leave the club for €70million ($77m; £62m). Anyway, that’s the entorno (the environment around Barca) we have in this club.”

Fati’s struggles contrasted with the party atmosphere at the Camp Nou, where fans chanted “campeones, campeones” in anticipation of a first league title since 2019. Barca’s 11th 1-0 win in La Liga this season means they will likely seal La Liga with victory against city rivals Espanyol on Sunday, May 14.

Various issues should be clearer then. Minutes after the game, Fati drove his team-mate Balde to the Nobu Hotel, where Mendes was still taking part in business meetings unrelated to the match his clients had been involved in. Mendes did meet Fati, Balde and Yamal before the day was up.

On the pitch, meanwhile, Sergio Busquets revealed he would take a decision about his future soon with his contract set to expire in the summer. “I have almost decided it,” he said. “Now we’ll have some days off and then when we get back to training I will let the manager know.”

And, just after Xavi’s post-match press conference, Barca released a statement announcing the departure of sporting director Mateu Alemany. A key figure in president Joan Laporta’s project since his re-election in 2021 and the architect of the current squad, Alemany will leave the club at the end of the summer transfer window.

It did not matter that they had just effectively sealed their first major title of the season and Xavi’s first as boss. Not a day goes by in Barcelona without a big news story breaking about the club.

Somehow, they have all learnt to live like this.

(Top photo: Alex Caparros/Getty Images)