Deco outlines Barcelona plans for Joao Felix, Joao Cancelo and Ansu Fati
- Felix and Cancelo on loan at Barcelona after joining from Atletico and Manchester City respectively
- Both players have established themselves as regular starters under Xavi
- Ansu Fati out on loan at Brighton after being granted temporary exit
Barcelona sporting director Deco has discussed the club's plans for Joao Felix, Joao Cancelo and Ansu Fati, who are either on loan at or away from the club.
The reigning La Liga champions drafted in Felix from Atletico Madrid and Cancelo from Manchester City on season-long loans over the summer, while they shipped out Fati to get more regular first-team football at Premier League side Brighton & Hove Albion.
All three have featured regularly this season, with Felix and Cancelo regular starters for Barca and Fati now progressing into that role at Brighton after initially being used as an impact substitute.
Barca's ongoing financial struggles have been well documented but they continue to do business in the transfer market by generating funds by alternative means. That means permanent deals for Felix and Cancelo are not off the table, with Deco alluding to as much with his latest comments to the press.
“We are still in November, it is early. But of course we are already thinking about it. We see how the season is going," the Portuguese told RAC1. "There is no doubt that we want to have them next season, because they are good for the squad. We are happy with their performance. How? We’ll see, these are discussions for later."
Felix has made a relatively slow start to life at Barcelona in terms of goalscoring output. He has netted just once in 10 La Liga appearances, adding another couple of goals in four outings in the Champions League.
Cancelo has arguably made more of an impact for Barcelona, starting 13 out of a possible 14 games, though improvements will need to be made with the club sitting third in La Liga, four points behind surprise table-toppers Girona and two behind fierce rivals Real Madrid.
As for Fati, Deco refused to close on the door on a return to Barcelona, with the once revered youngster's summer exit coming as a surprise to many.
"Of course Ansu Fati can return here, he’s on loan to Brighton. He’s young, he’s happy now. I think Brighton was good choice to play regular football, we’re following his progress. It’s up to his performances. But Ansu could return to Barca, for sure."
Fati has started just once in the Premier League for Roberto De Zerbi's Seagulls, instead making more of an impact in Albion's maiden Europa League campaign.
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