Meet Barcelons's new number 10: Lamine Yamal

Barcelona has a new number 10 and its the golden boy Lamine Yamal. Is this number too much pressure? what does it mean? and why is this number so significant?
Lamine Yamal inherits FC Barcelona's iconic number 10 jersey after signing until 2031
Lamine Yamal inherits FC Barcelona's iconic number 10 jersey after signing until 2031 | Anadolu/GettyImages

The worst kept secret in the world was officially revealed on Wednesday that Lamine Yamal would be the newest number 10 of FC Barcelona.

This felt like a long time coming especially after his star making performances at the Euros, but was held up due to Lamine requesting not to have the 10 as long as Ansu Fati remained at the club. With Ansu now at Monaco, it freed the path for next succesor of the number 10, Lamine Yamal. Now we will take a look at the history of the number, if it was the right decision, and what it means.

The history of the number 10

The number 10 has always been an iconic number in football with greats like Pele, Maradona, Messi all dawning the number in their respective careers. Besides being an iconic football number, it is a number extra special to the Catalan club similar to how the number 7 is for Manchester United. Pre-2000, names such as Diego Maradona, Hristo Stoichkov, and Romario wore the number 10 for Barcelona. The lineage for this century has quite the list of legends with the 10 going from Jari Litmanen, followed by Rivaldo, than by Juan Roman Riquelme for a year, followed by Ronaldinho, who was followed by Lionel Messi, and than the enigma of this list Ansu Fati.

The lineage is long of this number and it's held by an exclusive few which Lamine will have to try to follow up. This number has the pressure of trying to reach the levels of all time greats and avoid being footnotes in the number's history like Ansu.

Right call?

Like mentioned before, the number 10 has alot of pressure behind it. It affected Ansu Fati's confidence as he struggled with injuries and the weight of the pressure of following Messi's number. Now try putting that pressure on an 18 year old kid to try and follow in the footsteps of the greatest player of all time. Add to that the offield controversy, with Lamine being investigated for his birthday party where he hired people with dwarfism as entertainment, and you have to ask is this all too much for the kid?

It's difficult to predict the future but I think that giving him the number 10 was the right call. Lamine has had a reputation all season that he shows up in the big games and he's at his best when he's under pressure. A number with that much weight might help bring his game to an even higher level as the pressure is immense. With his off the field antics, he is still 18 and even if he seems mature on the pitch its unsurprising if he's still a bit immature off it.

It's okay to feel a bit concerned about the pressure but based on what we've seen, giving Lamine the number 10 is the right call.

What it means

It means that Barcelona officially appoint their next global superstar and belive they have their Messi succesor. Lamine doesn't have to follow the path of Messi, as he's stated he doesn't want to, but in impact and star power he's expected to reach legendary heights. From a business persepctive, this should be a slam dunk in jersey sales, will make Lamine more of a marketing star, and help with ticket sales as Barca look to move back in to the renovated Camp Nou. It is a sign of a new time and new era for FC Barcelona.