BARCELONA – After the most dramatic transfer market remembered at the Camp Nou, Barcelona began the month of September by sending a gesture of complicity of optimism to the future and a message of the new era that begins this season. After weeks speculating on the possibility that the 10 that Lionel Messi wore for the last thirteen seasons was deserted, the club made official through a video that Ansu Fati will be the new owner of the legendary number.
This ruled out the suspicion that the Barça club could leave the ’10’ orphaned for the first time in its history, without it being used by any player since they were personalized in 1995 by the departure of Messi from the club bound for Paris Saint-Germain.
Ansu will be the eighth footballer to see his name printed on the shirt with the 10 in a story that goes much further, with legendary players who honored this magical number.
There was speculation about the Camp Nou, and not a little, with the serious possibility that no one would happen this season to the Argentine star, although the impossibility of removing the shirt already made you think that this might not happen … As much as the club always kept quiet about it, attending to the movements of its staff that could release numbers that were not understood as final. The 7 that Antoine Griezmann wore in the first three days of the league and that after his departure to Atlético de Madrid is left to Ousmane Dembélé.
THE PRECEDENTS
The squad, which last season brought the 17th, will replace the best footballer in the history of Barça and who already inherited the ’10’ in the summer of 2008 from Ronaldinho, wearing the number, throughout 13 seasons, in 668 matches. Previously, the Brazilian carried the same number for 207 games in five seasons, between 2003 and 2008, taking over from Riquelme, who only used him in the 2002-03 season, the only one who played for Barça and in 42 official matches.
Cuéllar, Giovanni, Litmanen and Rivaldo were the other owners of the 10 with his name printed on the shirt between 1995 and 2002, taking the place of other players, previously, who also wore it.
Special, of course, is the case of Diego Armando Maradona, who led the 10 during his two seasons at Barça, in 58 games between 1982 and 1984, before making it his home at Napoli and occupying his number at Barça l Steve Archibald, who took him regularly, though not always, between 1984 and 1987. Robert Fernández was the next to take him until his departure in 1990 in Valencia, although on some occasions , few, was also carried by Gary Lineker.
Robert’s departure prompted the bib to become the regular property of Michael Laudrup for the next four seasons, until 1994, although the Dane sometimes wore the 9 and left the 10 for Eusebio, who had started with the 8 which remained the property of Stoichkov, or William Love.
Until Cuéllar took it already personalized in season 1995-96 was Gica Hagi the one that shone the 10, happening to the 11 in that one first course with the names in the t-shirt, taking in the campaign 1994-1995 in some occasion on the 10th Roger Garcia, who stayed after the 24th … And has gone down in history as the last footballer to use the 14th at Ajax until the Dutch club decided to withdraw the number in honor of Johan Cruyff.
Before all of them, prior to Maradona, they wore the 10 on the shirt players like Juanjo Estella, between 1980 and 1982 and who succeeded Juan Manuel Asensi, who was the one who wore more seasons between his arrival from the Elche in 1970 and its march to the Puebla of Mexico ten years later … Except the season 1973-74 in which habitually it was the 8 to shine the 10 the Peruvian Hugo Cholo Sotil.
Josep Maria Fusté was the soccer player who in more occasions I take the number during the decade of the 60 of the last century century, happening to Luis Suárez, unique Spanish soccer player of birth winner of the Golden Ball and that was the 10 of Barcelona between 1955 and his departure to Inter Milan in 1961, although on several occasions it was also Kubala who took it.
Prior to them the number did not have an established player, often changing during a time when this number 10 did not have the meaning that it began to enjoy so prominently until the emergence of the great Pelé.
Now, in 2021 and already closed the stage of the best footballer in the history of Barça, the club launched the message of the new era without disguise. All honor and glory in memory of Leo Messi … But with an eye on the future represented by Ansu Fati.