Barcelona Squad Numbers for New Signings Confirmed

Barcelona’s new era comes with fresh ink on the backs of their shirts.

On the eve of their La Liga opener against Elche on Sunday, the league’s official website has confirmed the squad numbers for Barça’s latest signings, offering the clearest sign yet that the club’s registration headaches are easing.

• Rodri takes the no.16 shirt
• Anthony Gordon is handed no.17
• Karim Adeyemi will run out in no.14
• Andreas Christensen, fresh from signing a new contract, switches to no.15

One name is still missing. João Cancelo does not yet appear on La Liga’s list, even though the expectation inside the club is that he will continue with no.2, the number he wore last season. New arrival Jesse Bisiwu, meanwhile, will start the campaign with a B-team squad number, underlining his status as one for the future rather than an immediate first-team fixture.

The reshuffle has triggered a small emotional twist in the dressing room. Fermín López has vacated no.16 and will now wear no.7, the shirt previously owned by Ferran Torres. The midfielder has already admitted the change tugs at the heartstrings.

“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 earlier, before the switch became official on the league’s platform. Now that “good hands” belong to Rodri.

Gordon’s arrival pushes another domino. The England winger inherits no.17 from Marc Casadó. The midfielder has not yet left the club, but is widely viewed as being on his way out, and currently has no squad number listed. For a player once tipped as a long-term option in midfield, it is a stark signal of where things stand.

In Barcelona, La Liga’s website has become more than a database; it is treated as an unofficial stamp of approval that registrations are complete. Local reports say the club have successfully registered their new signings, a far cry from the tense, last-minute calculations of previous summers when Financial Fair Play rules and a lack of incoming revenue forced late scrambles and creative accounting.

This time, the numbers are going on early. The shirts are ready. The real question now is whether the football will look as smooth as the paperwork.