Paris Saint-Germain offers Lionel Messi the shirt with number 30, reports marca Monday. The attacker played with number 10 at Barcelona, but that is worn by Neymar in Paris. An offer from Neymar to take over number 10 was turned down by Messi, leading the club to look for an alternative jersey number for the star signing.
The number 19 has reportedly been considered as Messi wore the number for Barcelona during the 2006/07 and 2007/08 seasons, before taking over the number 10 from Ronaldinho. According to marca however, it is more likely that Messi will wear number 30. It would be striking, because number 30 is usually worn by the third goalkeeper of a club in Ligue 1. Clubs in France have to distribute the jersey numbers 1, 16 and 30 among their goalkeepers for each season. However, Ligue 1 is happy with the arrival of a world star like Messi and is not expected to enforce the rules too strictly.
Normally number 1 is for the first goalkeeper, number 16 for the second and number 30 for the third keeper. Back numbers over 30 are not allowed, although in an emergency, back numbers 40 can also be assigned to keepers. Last month competition organizer LFP already stroked the heart so that PSG acquisition Gianluigi Donnarumma could play with number 50. At PSG, all numbers for the goalkeepers were already given. Keylor Navas has number 1, Sergio Rico number 16, Alexandre Letellier number 30 and Denis Franchi number 40. PSG were allowed to play Donnarumma with number 50, as it has over 30 players in the roster.
Messi played as a youth player with number 30 on his back. He also made his debut in the Barcelona first team when he was used by Frank Rijkaard in October 2004. Until the end of the 2005/06 season he wore number 30; then Messi switched to number 19. It is still the question for the time being when Messi will arrive in Paris for his medical examination. Reports in international media differ on this.
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