Lamine Yamal and Barcelonas No. 10 shirt: a blessing and a curse for which he is more than ready

Barcelona has finally confirmed that Lamine Yamal will use the club's legendary No. 10 shirt – another pioneering moment in his brilliant, aspiring career.

Yamal, who turned 18 on Sunday, inherits the number of his good friend Ansu Fati, who had she had in the past three years but left it back on July 1, when she was borrowed to Monaco. There is no price to know who had it before Fati: Lionel Messi.

It is a symbolic moment that is greeted by Barca fans with excitement and the process has been carefully managed. The decision was a mutual between Yamal and Barcelona, with both parties believing that this was the right moment.

It is fair to say from Yamal's side that he has felt like the well -known name in Barca for a while. However, he asked not to get No. 10 with Fati in the club yet. The two had been close to La Masia since Yamal and as long as Fati, 22, represented Barca, he didn't want to take his number.

Then another request came from the Yamal camp that Barca was waiting until his 18th birthday before he officially unveiled his new number. Barca's original plan was to announce it when you start selling your new kit for 2025-26. Instead, Yamal's new shirt was only pre -ordered when this happened and delivered as soon as the “secret” of his number became known for the season.

Barca will expect that the sales of kits will be significantly increased. You have your best player connected to your most iconic shirt number shortly after you have signed a new long -term contract. After you have secured the most exciting talent of the game in the foreseeable future, you want to celebrate it and harvest the rewards.

Despite all the waiting, this has felt inevitable for some time. After Yamal's Breakout performance at the European Championship with the winners of Spain last summer, when he was appointed young player of the tournament, his dizzying progress showed no signs of slowing down.

He won La Liga and the Copa del Rey this season, he has the biggest stage in the semi -finals of the Champions League against Inter against Inter.

Now he takes the shirt that Messi has worn. There is a weight that goes hand in hand with it. This means inevitable comparisons with the player who scored 709 goals in 837 games. It's a blessing and a curse.

“I don't want to compare myself to someone and even less with Messi,” said Yamal at a press conference before the game in April, when he also announced that he had to meet the Argentinian personally since his Barca Breakout.

“I try to follow my own way,” he added. “Obviously I see him as the best footballer ever, but I'm not making the comparison.”

The pressure in Barcelona is and will always be outside the charts, regardless of which state the club and regardless of the number on your back. Messi is the most famous bearer of Barcelonas No. 10 from the distance, but even for him there was weight to take over.

Shortly before Messi there was Ronaldinho. The Brazilian followed the famous compatriots Rivaldo and Romario. Diego Maradona wore it in front of them. We are talking about a kind of football kings, but especially in Barcelona's case, these are players who have an important thing in common. They all increased the mood at every level of the club.

Ronaldinho and Messi shown in February 2008 (Lluis -Gen/AFP via Getty Images)

Since Messi's traumatic departure in 2021, nobody has lifted the mood in Barca like Yamal.

This does not mean that the situation is not worried. Those who believe that Yamal should remain protected from further demands – be it emotionally, mentally or physically – only have to point out what happened to Fati, even if there are important differences.

When Fati handed down the No. 10 shirt in 2021, he had only played 31 league games in two seasons after having come through La Masia. He was only 18 years old, but a number of impressive performances showed the potential of a first -class talent. Four years, four operations and several injuries later, he left Barca in three seasons on his second loan. He went and hoped to feel like an elite player again.

Yamal has only reached a mirror in football terms that goes beyond what Fati managed with the first team in his early days. He has played 106 games since his debut two years ago. He won three main titles with Barca – and he is an established star with Spain.

Yamal is a leading figure for Barca and for Spain (Mikolaj Barbanell/SOPA Images/Light dryet via Getty Images)

When Messi left Barcelona, there was a large gap. They could easily make the case that Fati took the shirt at the worst time. The circumstances are different for Yamal. Parallels are still drawn, but at a certain distance.

The comparisons with Messi are largely helpful, but also in favor of Yamals: dealing with his ascent has some similarities to how Barcelona Messi's breakthrough managed at the time. It is very different from the Fati case.

Messi made his debut in the first team at the age of 17 in October 2004, but only in the year he spent his first full season with Frank Rijkaard's squad. He spent two more campaigns with the first team with 30 and 19 No. No. When Pep Guardiola landed as a manager in summer 2008 and Ronaldinho landed in Milan, Messi had no. 10 at the age of 21, 110 appearances.

Yamal presented fewer games for Barca in four games – but his playing time in these games is about 200 minutes. The age difference makes its case so terrifyingly impressive. He was 15 years and 290 days old when he made his debut in April 2023 and became the youngest player in the club in La League's history. As soon as the new season begins, he will accept Messi's coat at the age of 18.

It has been reached individually and probably shows more than what Barca saw in 2008 from Messi. Bearing the No. 10 had to happen sooner than later, and he has already shown that he can thrive under the pressure.

Now another new chapter begins in the long -term mission that the teenager has set for himself.

“I want Barca to win and be one of the best in the economy,” Yamal said at this press conference in April.

“You can see this feeling in our team, it is a dream for us and it has a lot to do with our performance this season. We remember when the club won the Champions League in 2015 and we not only play because this is our job – we also feel the colors of this football club.

“Fear of playing the game? I left all my fears in the park of my neighborhood, some time ago in Mataro.”

(Top image: Joan Gosa/Xinhua about Getty Images)