Lamine Yamal set to be given new Barcelona squad number next season that Lionel Messi once wore
Barcelona are set to give Lamine Yamal a new squad number next season once worn by Lionel Messi.
If you hadn't heard of Lamine Yamal before this summer, you will have now.
The 17-year-old sensation lit up Euro 2024 for Spain, producing several electric performances to help his nation win the tournament for a record-breaking fourth time.
Yamal, who only made his senior Spain debut last September aged 16, scored one goal and provided four assists in seven outings at Euro 2024 and was named UEFA's Young Player of the Tournament.
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His equaliser against France in the semi-final made him the youngest scorer in European Championship history.
The young winger debuted for the Barcelona first-team in April 2023, coming on as a late substitute in a La Liga win against Real Betis.
At the age of 15 years, nine months and 16 days, Yamal became the youngest the club's youngest ever league debutant, beating the previous record - set by Ansu Fati in 2019 - by a whole year.
Not surprisingly given that he was a young player from the academy, Yamal wore the number 41 shirt on his debut.
Last season he wore the number 27 shirt, but he looks set to change once against for 2024-25.
According to Jijantes, Barcelona will hand the 16-year-old the number 19 jersey, a shirt that holds great significance at the Camp Nou.
That's because Lionel Messi wore no.19 between 2005 and 2008 before he took the iconic no.10 jersey that he donned until he left the club in 2021.
It's a huge honour for Yamal, although it won't feel too alien to him; the right winger wore the same jersey for Spain at Euro 2024.
Yamal's insane talent aside, perhaps there is no player more suited to inheriting one of Messi's former shirts. After all, there is that famous photo of a 20-year-old Messi bathing a baby Yamal during a charity calendar photoshoot in 2007.
Topics: FC Barcelona, Lamine Yamal, La Liga, Football, Spain, Euro 2024
Alex Brotherton