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Barcelona have decided to give the prestigious number 10 shirt to La Masia graduate Ansu Fati following Lionel Messi's departure to Paris Saint-Germain in the recently-concluded summer transfer window.
Barcelona have now unveiled their newest number 10 on their official website. The statement for the same reads as follows:
"Ansu Fati has a new shirt number. After wearing the number 22 then 17, the young Barça striker will proudly wear the number 10 shirt - a famous jersey previously worn by legends such as Leo Messi, Ronaldinho and Rivaldo."
Lionel Messi donned the famous number 10 shirt since the 2008-09 season after club legend Ronaldinho left the Blaugrana to join Serie A side AC Milan. Since then the number 10 shirt at Barcelona has become synonymous with Lionel Messi.
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However, due to Barcelona's financial crisis, the club were unable to offer Messi a new contract which saw the six-time Ballon d'Or winner leave to join Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer. This left the number 10 shirt at Barcelona up for grabs.
Barcelona have decided to continue Lionel Messi's legacy by giving the famous shirt to yet another La Masia prodigy in Ansu Fati. The number 10 shirt will continue to symbolize Barcelona's ideology of producing great talent through their youth system.
Barcelona were unable to retire the Number 10 shirt in honor of Lionel Messi
Barcelona were unable to retire their famous number 10 shirt due to the La Liga's rules and regulations. According to the rules, each side should assign a number to their first-team squad between 1 and 25.
This means that if Barcelona decided to retire the number 10 shirt, they would have permanently lost a place for any new player in their senior squad.
There were rumors suggesting Barcelona would offer the prestigious shirt number to Philippe Coutinho. However, the Catalan giants have instead opted to go with Ansu Fati, who remains their brightest hope for the future.
At just 18 years of age, Ansu Fati has already represented Barcelona on 41 occasions, scoring 13 goals along the way. The Spanish international will now be looking to follow in the footsteps of Lionel Messi by carrying the weight of expectation that comes by wearing the number 10 shirt.
Lionel Messi has himself opted for the number 30 shirt at Paris Saint-Germain. The 34-year-old superstar decided to go with the number 30 since that was his number when he first made his Barcelona debut in 2004.
Also Read: David James' column - Ranking the 5 greatest full-backs of all time
