Number 7 at Manchester United, number 9 at Chelsea, but also number 10 at FC Barcelona. At many big teams, certain numbers are harder to wear than others. The fault is a sort of curse which would affect these tunics, historic to say the least. In Manchester, Cristiano became “CR7”. In south-west London, scorers are struggling to succeed and at Barça, the shadow of Lionel Messi – even that of Ronaldinho and other Maradonas – hangs over Catalonia. So much so that since Ansu Fati left shortly before, no one has come forward to recover the number 10, sacred in the history of football.
It must be said that Ansu Fati will not have really succeeded in making Lionel Messi forget. Blame it on injuries, above all, but also a complicated relationship with Xavi and the rest of the staff. Sport explains that the new Brighton winger did not even say goodbye to Barça, a cold phone call was enough. Number 10, left vacant by Fati, will remain vacant all season. If this flocking is legendary, we can imagine that the pressure it creates is enormous so that no player wishes to wear it, especially since the departure of Lionel Messi.
