Lionel Messi is now officially a Paris Saint-Germain player. Ahead of his move to PSG, many speculated on just which shirt number Messi would don with the club. The Argentine famously wore the No. 10 shirt during his time with Barcelona, but Neymar currently holds this number with PSG.
In the end, Messi elected to go with the No. 30 shirt, although Neymar reportedly offered the Argentine to take the No. 10 shirt.
Messi last wore the No. 30 shirt during his early days with Barca and as he detailed during his first full day as a PSG player (via Le10Sport), there was a notable reason as to why he wound up picking this number.
“Number 30 was the first number I wore when I made my debut at FC Barcelona,” Messi said. “In my early years and after so much time, it’s as if I was starting something new, and it’s good to be back in the 30s.”
PSG had to essentially request the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) to allow Messi to choose the No. 30 shirt number, as the governing body prohibits outfield players to wear this number on the pitch. As expected, the LFP granted PSG’s request without much of an issue.
For now, the wait is on for just when Messi will make his Ligue 1 debut with PSG.
