Barcelona Remove Philippe Coutinho As Club's No.7 And Hand Shirt To New Player

Antoine Griezmann is Barcelona's new No.7 after the taking the shirt from Philippe Coutinho.

Griezmann tried to take the No.7 shirt at the start of last season following his mega £107.6 million transfer from Atletico Madrid.

Image: PA

But the Spanish FA blocked his request as they do not allow players to have more than one number in the same campaign.

He inherited the No.17 shirt with Coutinho donning the No.7 shirt. The Brazilian went onto complete a loan move to Bayern Munich, spending the 2019/20 term in Germany.

Image: PA

Image: PA

But, ahead of the new season, Barcelona have handed the No.7 shirt to Griezmann who called it an "honour" on social media.

He also thanked Coutinho for giving up the shirt.

On Twitter, he wrote: "An honor to wear the 7 at Barça!

"I want to thank @Phil_Coutinho, who besides being a great player is a great companion."

Griezmann, who wore the No.7 shirt at Real Sociedad and Atletico Madrid, endured a difficult debut campaign at the Camp Nou.

He made 48 appearances in all competitions, scoring just 15 goals as Barcelona went trophyless.

Coutinho, meanwhile, has been the subject of intense transfer speculation with the 28-year-old heavily linked with a return to the Premier League.

But Ronald Koeman wants him to be a part of his squad for the 2020/21 season.

Topics: Football News, Football, Barcelona, Philippe Coutinho, Antoine Griezmann, Spain

Nasir Jabbar

Nasir Jabbar is a journalist at SPORTbible. He graduated from Bath Spa University with a BA in Media Communications. He's a combat sport aficionado, and has contributed to MMA websites AddictedMMA and CagePotato. Nasir has covered some of the biggest fights, while interviewing the likes of Conor McGregor, Darren Till, Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. He's also an avid Bristol City fan.

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