Is Lamine Yamal Ready for Barcelona’s Number 10?

The club said on Wednesday that 18-year-old Lamine Yamal, who is a star player for Barcelona, will wear the renowned number 10 shirt that Lionel Messi used to wear.

Yamal got the shirt after a great season in which he scored 18 goals and set up 25 more in 55 games. He was a key player in Barcelona’s victories in La Liga, the Copa del Rey, and the Spanish Super Cup.

Lamine, who wore the number 19 shirt last season, just signed a six-year extension to his deal with FC Barcelona. Yamal’s old contract was going to terminate at the conclusion of the 2025–26 season, but Barcelona acted quickly to make sure the young star’s future was secure by giving him a new agreement that will keep him at the club until 2031.

On Wednesday, Joan Laporta, the club’s president, gave him shirt number 10 in a special ceremony. The number 10 shirt is famous because Messi wore it while winning a lot of trophies with Barca.

Messi won 34 trophies with Barcelona and departed the club as the all-time greatest scorer with 672 goals in the 2020–21 season because the team was having money problems.

Diego Maradona and Ronaldinho are two famous players who wore the number 10 shirt. Lamine Yamal, on the other hand, claimed he wouldn’t let its history drag him down. Yamal remarked, “Messi opened the door with the number 10; I will make mine.”

“They are three famous football and club players. Every kid wants to have anything from Maradona, Messi, or Ronaldinho… I will endeavour to keep that legacy going.

“First, I wanted to wear the number 10 for Barca and make my debut. That’s what everyone who grows up here wants to do. Thank you, club.

After Messi left, the jersey went to teenage winger Ansu Fati, but he didn’t live up to expectations, therefore he was loaned out to Brighton & Hove Albion.