Who's Behind the Shirt? - Barcelona No. 10

Before anybody thinks "I'll do Messi", here's Messi 😀

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In recent times, there has been only 1 player to wear the number 10 shirt for Barcelona - Lionel Messi. But other players did wear the number before him, most notably, Diego Maradona and Romario. From what I can find, Spain introduced individual players' squad numbers in the 1995/96 season and as mentioned in my post about Manchester United's No. 7 Shirt, in some clubs, a shirt number is more than just a shirt number. It's symbolic of the greats that have worn the shirt before. So who's worn the now infamous Barcelona number 10 shirt in the years of squad numbers?

Source

So since squad numbers were associated with a single player, who has donned this iconic number?

1995 / 1996 - Ángel Cuéllar
1996 / 1997 - Giovanni
1997 / 1998 - Giovanni
1998 / 1999 - Giovanni
1999 / 2000 - Jari Litmanen
2000 / 2001 - Rivaldo
2001 / 2002 - Rivaldo
2002 / 2003 - Juan Román Riquelme
2003 / 2004 - Ronaldinho
2004 / 2005 - Ronaldinho
2005 / 2006 - Ronaldinho
2006 / 2007 - Ronaldinho
2007 / 2008 - Ronaldinho
2008 / 2009 - Lionel Messi
2009 / 2010 - Lionel Messi
2010 / 2011 - Lionel Messi
2011 / 2012 - Lionel Messi
2012 / 2013 - Lionel Messi
2013 / 2014 - Lionel Messi
2014 / 2015 - Lionel Messi
2015 / 2016 - Lionel Messi
2016 / 2017 - Lionel Messi
2017 / 2018 - Lionel Messi
2018 / 2019 - Lionel Messi
2019 / 2020 - Lionel Messi
2020 / 2021 - Lionel Messi

Another impressive list of names and a clear South American feel to it. In Rivaldo, Ronaldinho and Messi, we have some of the most entertaining players in the history of football, all of which are Ballon d'Or winners.

But as with any shirt number at a great club, there are some flops in there too. Ángel Cuéllar got a serious injury soon after signing meaning that he rarely played. Giovanni did ok (with a reputation for scoring against Real Madrid) until van Gaal arrived but they didn't get along so his tenure ended soon after to be replaced by Litmanen who followed van Gaal from Ajax. But after a number of injuries and van Gaal's departure, he was soon off too. Riquelme was anticipated to be a world beater (he was amazing in Championship Manager 01/02) but it never happened for him (especially once Ronaldinho arrived, forcing him out due to the limit on how many overseas players were allowed).

I wonder what comes next for the No. 10 shirt though, and will it be sooner rather than later. With the sentiment around shirt numbers these days, it doesn't seem out of this world to think that they might even retire the shirt. Whoever's to follow though, has big boots to fill (maybe even in the literal sense - Messi's feet are size 43.5 EU (10.5 UK) so relatively big for a little man Source).

Please let me know in the comments if there are any teams & shirts that you're interested in.