The value of certain players within FC Barcelona can not be questioned under any circumstance. Beyond just sporting ability, certain players hold a different kind of value in terms of their image and popularity. For many top clubs, including Barcelona, profiting from this kind of popularity is a must every single season.
One of the most common ways to make the most of a player’s popularity is to add other factors that can boost an already impressive foundation. Lamine Yamal, for instance, is by far the most promising option to be Barça’s poster boy for many years to come.
His recent record-breaking campaign in the European Championship, a tournament that he won, has only added more fuel to that fire. While there are certain positives to Yamal being given the ‘10’ of Barcelona, the reality is that he will play next season wearing the number ‘19’.
However, while the ‘10’ would have been a direct and more well-known nod to the legendary Lionel Messi, the ‘19’ is also a step in the same direction that the Argentinian hero took at Barcelona.
As highlighted by SPORT, Yamal and Barcelona continue to add more history to the connection between the Spaniard and the former Barça icon.
Previously, it was even confirmed that the two Barcelona players of present and past had coincided when the 17-year-old winger was just a mere baby. Now, however, it appears that Barcelona are set to take this major step with Yamal to bolster that pre-existing connection.
Before Yamal, some of the more recent players to have worn the ‘19’ include the likes of Vitor Roque, Ferran Torres, Franck Kessie, and Sergio Aguero.
Previously, Messi himself wore the number between 2006 and 2008, accumulating a total of 84 games while wearing it. Afterwards, he ended up taking on the number ‘10’ from Brazilian legend Ronaldinho.
In time, Barcelona hope that Yamal will get to follow that passing of the torch as well, but the time is not yet right for him to take on the ‘10’. As for what this implies for previous holder Vitor Roque, the act of taking away the ‘19’ from him likely seems to be a direct show of intent from Barça.