Barça squad without shirt numbers: What will happen with Messi's 10?

The situation at Barcelona is so unusual that for the first time the club have announced the squad for a game without specifying the 23 players' shirt numbers.

Barça are waiting to see if Miralem Pjanic leaves the club: if they don't manage to move him on before the Getafe game on Sunday, and save an unexpected twist, Philippe Coutinho could return with the No.10 shirt previously worn by Lionel Messi.

The situation is as follows: at the moment, Barça have two free numbers, 10 and 25. There are two players without a number, Coutinho and Oscar Mingueza.

On the squad list for the game, Coutinho appears between Neto (13) and Clement Lenglet (15). Rey Manaj is also there, having been the No.14 in Barça's first two league games, which is Coutinho's previous number. Manaj could yet leave but for now he has that number.

Pjanic leaving would free up the No.8 shirt, but it doesn't seem likely that he's gone before Sunday's game. Meanwhile, coach Ronald Koeman's happy with the Bosnian's attitude.

Therefore, it's increasingly likely that Coutinho takes Messi's 10. There's also the chance he takes No.25, given Minueza is unlikely to be registered as a first-team player before the Getafe game.

However, in that scenario, Mingueza would then have to take either Pjanic's 8 (if he leaves) or Messi's 10 when he's officially promoted to the first team.

👥 Els convocats del #BarçaGetafe pic.twitter.com/KReLbRXvxs

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona_cat) 28 de agosto de 2021