Barcelona miracle boy, Ansu Fati, officially inherited Lionel Messi’s jersey number. This made his father, Bori Fati, happy and bought the jersey.
Lionel Messi’s departure to Paris Saint-Germain has made some people wonder who the heir to the number 10 shirt is at Barcelona. Since the 2008-2009 season, the number 10 belongs to Messi. The jersey number was worn by the Argentine superstar until his last season with Barcelona in 2020-2021.
Along with Messi’s departure, the sacred number had no man’s land. There is a lot of speculation circulating that the next number 10 wearer will be Sergio Aguero or Philippe Coutinho.
However, both Sergio Aguero and Philippe Coutinho chose another jersey number. Aguero chose the number 19, while Coutinho was determined to wear the number 14.
The puzzle about the heir to the number 10 jersey in Barcelona was finally answered on Wednesday (1/9/2021) local time. Number 10 will be worn by the boy prodigy, Ansu Fati.
Ansu Fati, who is also touted as Messi’s successor, has been predicted to be the next owner of the number 10 jersey. When making his debut in the Barcelona senior team in the 2019-2020 season, Fati wore the number 31 jersey.
The following season, the Spanish striker had the opportunity to wear the number 22 jersey. Meanwhile, at the beginning of the 2021-2022 season before Messi’s departure to PSG, Fati was plotted using the number 17.
Confirmation of the change in Fati’s jersey number was apparently responded to emotionally by the player’s father, Bori Fati. Bori Fati, overjoyed, went to a sports shop that sells Barcelona’s official uniform on Thursday (2/9/2021) local time.
Bori Fati was one of the first customers to go to the Barcelona store in the inaugural launch of his son’s jersey with number 10. Bori’s emotions immediately broke after bringing the number 10 jersey that Messi inherited from his son.
Bori, who bought up to eight jerseys, did not expect that Fati would wear the sacred number with El Barca. “I’ve got eight jerseys,” said Bori, quoted from Mundo Deportivo.
“I couldn’t sleep and by 10am Barcelona time, I was in the shop. I didn’t know anything about Ansu Fati going to wear the number 10, I only found out yesterday when I came by train.”
“My wife called me and asked about the jersey she bought and she said it was so impressive because no one could have imagined this moment, it was crazy. We have suffered a lot, nine months of injuries. I was crying about it for a long time,” said Bori added.
Fati stole the show when he made his debut with the Barcelona senior team in 2019-2020. To date, the 18-year-old has made 43 appearances across competitions, scoring 13 goals.
The knee injury he suffered in November 2020 forced him to undergo a recovery that took up to 9 months. Now, Fati has returned to the Barcelona squad and looks fit.
