Barcelona have reportedly chosen which star will take the vacant No. 10 jersey following Lionel Messi's exit from the Camp Nou.
In the aftermath of the six-time Ballon d'Or winner's sad departure from the Blaugrana two weeks ago, many have wondered what will happen with the club's iconic No. 10 shirt he donned from the 2008/09 season.
While LaLiga rules reportedly stipulate that the jersey number cannot be permanently retired, it seems Barcelona could soon have a new No. 10 in the form of Philippe Coutinho.
According to ESPN journalist Jordi Blanco, the out-of-sorts Brazilian appears set to inherit the shirt after a recently-released squad list showed there have been a few changes to the jersey numbers worn by the players.
While Coutinho did not feature on the squad list ahead of Barcelona's 2021/22 LaLiga opener, it was revealed that striker Rey Manaj has been handed the No. 14 shirt previously worn by the ex-Liverpool playmaker.
With Miralem Pjanic currently wearing Coutinho's other preferred shirt number, No. 8, the only other number reportedly available is No. 25.
The Selecao international arrived in Spain from the Reds in January 2018 as one of the most exciting attacking midfielders in world football, but has ultimately struggled to fulfil expectations since.
Despite having claimed five trophies at Barca, Coutinho's performances have largely been underwhelming, while injury disruptions have only added to his misery.
After returning from a loan deal at Bayern Munich in the 2019/20 campaign, during which he won the UEFA Champions League, he battled to build any momentum after suffering a season-ending knee injury late in 2020.
