Barcelona’s Squad Numbers Confirmed for New Season

Barcelona’s new season starts on Sunday against Elche, and the shirt hierarchy inside the dressing room is now all but settled.

La Liga’s official website has confirmed the squad numbers for Barça’s latest arrivals. Rodri takes over the no. 16 shirt, Anthony Gordon comes in as no. 17, and Karim Adeyemi will run out in no. 14. Andreas Christensen, fresh from signing a new contract, moves to no. 15.

One name is still missing from the list. João Cancelo does not yet appear on La Liga’s site, even though expectation around the club is that he will keep the no. 2 he wore last season. New arrival Jesse Bisiwu, meanwhile, has been handed a B team number, underlining his status as a longer-term project rather than an immediate first-team fixture.

The reshuffle has triggered a notable change for one of last season’s breakout players. Fermín López has vacated the no. 16 that accompanied his rise into the senior side and will now wear the iconic no. 7, last used by Ferran Torres. The midfielder has already admitted the switch is not entirely without emotion.

“It makes me a bit sad to give up the number 16 because it had a special place in my heart after these seasons with the first team. But I'm sure it will be in good hands,” he said previously, a nod to Rodri’s arrival and the symbolism of the number he leaves behind.

Gordon’s choice of no. 17 has a knock-on effect as well. The England international takes the shirt from Marc Casadó, whose future lies away from the club. Casadó has not yet departed officially, but with no squad number assigned on La Liga’s site, his exit feels like a matter of time.

Inside Barcelona’s offices, that same website carries another kind of weight. Appearing on La Liga’s squad list has become an unofficial stamp of approval that players are registered and eligible, a small but crucial detail in recent years as the club wrestled with Financial Fair Play and squeezed every euro to get deals over the line.

This time, the mood is different. Local reports say Barça have successfully registered their new signings, and the early publication of their numbers points to a calmer summer on the financial front. For once, as the season kicks off, the story in Barcelona is less about spreadsheets and levers, and more about the names and numbers that will run out of the tunnel on Sunday.