Only yesterday did it become public knowledge that Ousmane Dembele was on his way out of the club, that Barcelona winger Raphinha desired the No. 11 shirt, and that Ferran Torres desired the No. 7 jersey.
The new shirt numbers have now been legally certified on the website of La Liga, with Torres taking over as Barcelona’s new No. 7 and Raphinha moving up to the No. 11 jersey for the Blaugrana.
This is because Dembele is expected to complete his transfer to PSG very shortly, and the news is likely to be made public very quickly.
When Torres was a younger player at Valencia, he frequently wore the number 7, and he even wore it on occasion when he was playing for Spain’s national team.
The vacancy left by Dembele has been filled by the 23-year-old player, who was given a second shot with the team as a result of his strong showing in preseason play. Barcelona’s new No. 7 jersey bears his number.
Raphinha, a Brazilian international who is currently 26 years old, attaches a great deal of significance to the number 11 uniform and always wears it when he competes for Brazil. The number 22 that he wore during the previous campaign will be available to him when he plays for the Blaugrana as well.
Since Dembele is no longer a member of the club, the two will be given new uniform numbers, but moving forward, they will also be expected to shoulder a greater amount of responsibility.