Yamal extends contract, takes over iconic Barcelona number 10 shirt

Barcelona's young star Lamine Yamal inherited the club's number 10 shirt, previously worn by all-time great Lionel Messi, on Wednesday.

"Our 10," wrote Barca on social media, accompanied by a video featuring Yamal.

The 18-year-old winger, often compared to the Argentinian legend who also came up through the club's La Masia youth academy, helped the Catalan giants win a domestic treble last season.

Yamal has scored 25 goals for Barca in 116 appearances, making his debut in 2023 at the age of 15 while wearing the number 41 shirt.

After a season wearing the number 27, last summer Yamal followed in Messi's footsteps by taking the number 19, which the South American superstar wore at the club between 2005 and 2008.

Ansu Fati inherited Messi's number 10 shirt in 2021, when the current Inter Miami striker left Barcelona for Paris Saint-Germain.

Beset by a series of injuries, Fati was unable to fulfil his potential at Barca, and moved to Monaco on loan earlier in July. Other huge names including Diego Maradona, Ronaldinho, and Rivaldo have worn the number 10 shirt for the club in the past.

Yamal made unwanted headlines after celebrating his 18th birthday last weekend with a private event involving hired entertainers with dwarfism.

Spain's Ministry of Social Rights asked a public prosecutor to investigate the party after a complaint from the Association for People with Achondroplasia and Other Skeletal Dysplasias (ADEE).