With the transfer window officially closed, Spanish clubs have announced their season shirt numbers, and we finally know who will wear the now-vacant number 10 shirt at Barcelona.
FC Barcelona confirmed on Wednesday that forward Ansu Fati will again wear the legendary No. 10 jersey for the team, following a season in which he wore the No. 22 jersey. After Lionel Messi, the club’s former captain, left on a free transfer to join Paris Saint-Germain, the shirt No. had become vacant.
His career with FC Barcelona till Now
AnsuFati has established several league and Champions League records since his debut in August 2019. He scored his first league goal just six days after making his debut, marking him FC Barcelona’s youngest ever goalscorer in La Liga.
After a strong start to the season, in which he scored five goals in his first ten appearances, he was sidelined by a knee injury. AnsuFati, on the other hand, returned to training on August 24th with his colleagues, following a nine-month layoff and three surgeries.
Wearing the No. 10 Jersey
Philippe Coutinho was rumored to be a likely candidate for Lionel Messi’s No.10, but the Brazilian midfielder chose his preferred No.14 after returning to a matchday squad after a long layoff. After Coutinho chose his favorite number, Pedri, a center midfielder for Barcelona, was rumored to be wearing it. Fati, on the other hand, beat the odds and will be wearing the jersey from his next match.
The La Masia product has been absent for almost a year due to injury, but before that, he seemed like one of the brightest young prospects in the world. In fact, the fact that the two didn’t get to play more games together at the Nou Camp adds a whole new layer to the Messi parting tragedy.
Enthusiasts of Barcelona, as well as football fans in general, are hoping he looks as fantastic as ever once the new season begins. That garment carries a lot of weight, and it’s a lot of pressure for a young man who now weights the world on his shoulders.
In fact, considering that he has yet to return to the field following a long-term injury sustained at a young age, some may argue that it is an unneeded additional strain on him. To ease the transition to the post-Messi era, it would have been simple to leave the 10 empties, watch how the season unfolds, and then hand it over to the 18-year next summer.
