Barcelona squad: confirmed numbers for 2024/25

After a disappointing season, Barcelona faces the 2024/25 campaign with renewed hope.

Xavi has now left the Catalan club for good and has been replaced by former Bayern Munich manager and Champions League winner Hansi Flick. With a host of generational talents passing through La Masia, there are reasons to be positive ahead of the new season.

As is often the case at Barca, the summer transfer window will be a busy one. Their financial difficulties make it difficult to finalise deals, but they will be desperate to strengthen their squad and get rid of some of their deadwood.

These are the numbers for Barcelona’s squad for the 2024/25 campaign.

Barcelona’s squad is already packed with world-class talent, with many of the club’s academy stars already sporting famous shirts. Pedri has taken over Andrés Iniesta’s legendary number 8 shirt, while Gavi has inherited Xavi’s number 6, seemingly cursed since the former Barça manager left as a player.

However, there will be movement for other young players such as Lamine Yamal and Pau Cubarsi, who will have to be registered with a number between 1 and 25 when they become part of the first team squad next season. Yamal currently wears number 27, while Cubarsi wears 33.

Players without numbers: Clement Lenglet, Eric Garcia, Julian Araujo, Mikayil Faye, Alex Valle, Pablo Torre, Marc Casado, Ansu Fati.

There are some interesting numbers available for the new signings, of which there are likely to be a few in Catalonia. Lionel Messi’s No.10 shirt is technically free, but will be claimed by Ansu Fati, on loan at Brighton last season, if he is not sold this summer.

With Joao Cancelo’s loan expiring, the number 2 shirt becomes free for any defender to join the squad, and the Manchester City player could return to Barca on a permanent basis this summer. Joao Felix has also left the number 14 shirt vacant at the end of his loan, while the departures of Marcos Alonso and Sergi Roberto mean numbers 17 and 20 are available.

Gone are the days when football teams lined up with numbers 1 to 11, with a multitude of options available to the modern professional. However, in La Liga, the rules are a little stricter than elsewhere.

Each club’s 25-man “A squad” must wear shirts numbered 1 to 25, with reserve team players receiving numbers between 26 and 50 if they make it to the first team during the season. First-team goalkeepers must wear numbers 1, 13 or 25.

La Liga players cannot change their numbers once the final squad list is confirmed after the summer transfer window. However, until then, they can swap numbers with their teammates or change to a vacant number.