REPORT: Ansu Fati loan from Barcelona to Tottenham “99% done” (UPDATE: #actually it’s off)

[Editor’s note: this article has been updated. See below.]

Whoa! This morning the idea of Ansu Fati moving to Tottenham Hotspur was just something that was beginning to emerge. Now, we have a report — from COPE’s Helena Condis Edo — that states the deal is now “99% done” and needing only a signature.

There’s still a lot we don’t yet know, and will likely emerge when the English journalists get to sink their teeth into it. Reports from Spain seem to suggest it’s a straight loan without an purchase option or an obligation... which isn’t great. But that was also a complicating factor in getting this deal done before the conclusion of the transfer window, and it’s thought that having a straight loan might not prevent Spurs from coming back with a permanent offer next summer.

Also interesting in that above tweet — Ange Postecoglou apparently called Fati and told him that “he’ll be important.” Presumably there was at least one “mate” included in that conversation as well.

We also don’t (yet) know the details of the loan — Barca had said they wanted 100% of his (insane) wages covered, but this is Daniel Levy, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he was able to negotiate that down, the same way Unai Emery did to get Clement Lenglet’s wages down to 75%.

People are going to disagree on whether or not they think this is a good idea, for all of the reasons described in today’s previous article about Fati — he’s expensive, he’s had four knee surgeries, he’s apparently lost some of his speed and a lot of his dribbling. But he’s still getting monster shot numbers for Barcelona, and he’s an incredible talent. I’m super intrigued and really want to see what he can do in a Tottenham shirt under Ange Postecoglou.

Buckle up.

UPDATE: Sometimes you get the bear, and sometimes, well, the bear gets you. Not a half an hour after I posted this article, we get the following from Fabrizio Romano:

There’s also now reporting coming out of COPE, the source of the original tweet, that says the Fati loan to Spurs has collapsed.

So what happened? Man, I dunno. COPE appears to be part of the Barcelona state media apparatus, and while I’m sure they were reporting on what they were told (possibly from Joan Laporta), it’s very possible that it was bogus or just spin to ramp up interest in another move.

As of now, I’m putting everything on hold with this rumor until we get reporting from the English media, who will likely have the real goods.

I love hate love hate the end of the transfer window. This sucks.