Update: FC Barcelona is one of the most active clubs this summer transfer window, and could be looking to buy and sell even more players before the transfer window closes. First of all, it is now looking likely that Frenkie de Jong will stay, while FC Barcelona will be looking to sell players like Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Memphis Depay to finance Portuguese midfielder Bernardo Silva from Manchester City.
Additionally, FC Barcelona coach Xavi Hernández does not count on right-back Sergiño Dest at all since he was completely left out of the squad in the club's first competitive match against Rayo Vallecano. Funnily enough, Dest is currently the only nominal right-back in the squad.
A signing that will soon be completed is Spanish right-back Marcos Alonso from Chelsea. Striker Martin Braithwaite and French defender Samuel Umtiti will spend the season on the stands if they cannot find a new club.
FC Barcelona already confirmed a lot of new signings, and they could potentially pick up even more players after just activating the fourth economic lever. This means that they have sold 25% of La Liga TV rights for the next 25 years for €582m as well as 24.5% Barça Studios and 49.9% of the club's Licensing and Merchandising (BLM).
Interestingly, the Catalan giants are still getting linked with other players, and a move for Spanish international Marcos Alonso is definitely still highly likely. On the other hand, Barça also wants to load some players off to lower the wage bill. Let us find out what this is all about below.
As FC Barcelona announced yesterday, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang switches from shirt number 25 to number 17 in the future. Barcelona's shirt number 17 was worn by Pedro, Giovani dos Santos and Emmanuel Petit in the past, among others.
In other news, former Chelsea centre back Andreas Christensen will wear shirt number 15. This number was worn by some real Barcelona legends in the past like Pep Guardiola, Txiki Begiristain or Phillip Cocu.
Robert Lewandowski will wear shirt number 9, Miralem Pjanic gets number 16, Jules Koundé receives shirt number 23 and Raphinha number 22.
Will Lewandowski Wear number9 Barcelona Shirt? Barça Have Run Out Of 'W' Letters
Interestingly, there are still a lot of players, which FC Barcelona will look to offload to lower the wage bill in order to be able to register new signings.
Players that are definitely not part of Xavi's plan for next season also exist since there are still two notable FC Barcelona footballers left that were not part of the club's pre-season tour. These players were advised to look for a new club, and this list consists of Martin Braithwaite and Samuel Umtiti.
Anything could still happen in order for the club to be able to register their new players. We will have to wait and see how the FC Barcelona squad looks like once the transfer window closes in early September.
Confirmed FC Barcelona 22-23 Squad Number Changes
- Pedri: 16 --> 8
- Robert Lewandowski: none --> 9
- Ferran Torres: 19 --> 11
- Iñaki Peña: 26 --> 13
- Memphis Depay: 9 --> 14
- Andreas Christensen: none --> 15
- Miralem Pjanic: 8 --> 16
- Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang: 25 --> 17
- Franck Kessié: none --> 19
- Raphinha: none --> 22
- Jules Koundé: none --> 23
- Ez Abde: 33 --> 27
- Álex Balde: 31 --> 28
FC Barcelona 2022-23 Squad Numbers
- 1 Marc-André Ter Stegen
- 2 Sergiño Dest
- 3 Gerard Piqué
- 4 Ronald Araújo
- 5 Sergio Busquets
- 7 Ousmane Dembélé
- 8 Pedri
- 9 Robert Lewandowski
- 10 Ansu Fati
- 11 Ferran Torres
- 13 Iñaki Peña
- 14 Memphis Depay
- 15 Andreas Christensen
- 16 Miralem Pjanic
- 17 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
- 18 Jordi Alba
- 19 Franck Kessié
- 20 Sergi Roberto
- 21 Frenkie de Jong
- 22 Raphinha
- 23 Jules Koundé
- 24 Eric García
- 27 Ez Abde
- 28 Álex Balde
- 30 Gavi
What do you think of FC Barcelona's first-team lineup for the time being? Share your thoughts in the comments below.