It's quite likely that there will never be a No. 10 at Barcelona who'd be on par with Lionel Messi, the greatest player to ever wear this number.
Most clubs in the world would simply retire the iconic number to relieve future players of the pressure of wearing it. Ansu Fati is an example of someone who tried his best but the boots he had to fill were just too big.
So why doesn't Barca simply retire the number?
The reason is La Liga rules. According to them, players in the senior team of all clubs have to be handed jerseys between 1 to 25. Each club is allowed to register a total of 25 players in their squad including three goalkeepers. Interestingly, goalkeepers can only wear shirts with numbers 1, 13 and 25.
If a club adds an academy player to the senior team in the middle of the season, they can pick any number between 26 and 50.
Latest news
