Barcelona's No.11s - Who Neymar Will Be Following
Late last week it was announced that Neymar will wear the no.11 shirt for Barcelona. The Brazilian famously wore the no.11 jersey for Santos and has also worn it for the Brazilian national side despite wearing the no.10 in this years Confederations Cup. Here we take a look back at some of the Barcelona players that Neymar will have to live up to.
Since fixed shirt numbers were first introduced in Spain for the 1995/96 season, nine players have worn the coverted no.11 on their back; Hagi, CuÉllar, Rivaldo, Overmars, Maxi LÓpez, Zambrotta, Bojan, Jeffren and Thiago. Although before that, famous Barca players such as Txiki Begiristain and Sergi Barjuan also wore the shirt number. 
Thiago - The last person to wear the no.11, Thiago made his debut with the Barca first team after coming on as a substitute for GuÐjohnsen against Mallorca in May 2009. Back then he wore the no.30 but took over the no.11 shirt for the two seasons he was part of the first team squad, scoring 7 golas in 68 games. 
Jeffren SuÁrez - Jeffren spent five seasons at Barcelona but only took over the no.11 in his last season. The Canary Islander arrived at the Club when he was 17 years old and played five seasons, making 35 appearances for the first team and scoring 3 goals, most memorably in El ClÁsico against Real Madrid, in a 5-0 home win. 
Bojan Krkic - Bojan took the no.11 shirt in his second season at Barcelona (2008/09) after Gianluca Zambrotta left, before that he wore the no.27. That season he aided Barcelona to their first Copa del Rey win in 11 years by scoring five goals in the competition, including one in the final against Athletic Bilbao. In the 2010/11 season he took over the no.9 after Zlatan Ibrahimovic moved on loan to A.C. Milan. 
Gianluca Zambrotta - The Italian Gianluca Zambrotta became the first Barca defender to wear the no.11 shirt when he signed in July 2006, although Sergi Barjuan also wore the no.11 when playing left back but that wasn't a fixed squad number. The right back signed from Juventus, played in 58 games and scored 3 times. 
Maxi LÓpez - Barcelona signed the Argentine striker Maxi LÓpez for €6.2 million in the 2005 winter transfer window and he took the no.11 shirt for a season and a half. LÓpez made just 13 league appearances never scoring, although he did score a brilliant goal against Chelsea in the first leg of their Champions League clash. 
Marc Overmars - Over mars joined Barcelona in the summer of 2000 for £25 million (€40.6 million), making him the most expensive Dutch player of all time, the most expensive player to be sold by a British club and the most expensive to be signed by a Spanish club. He wore the no.11 for four seasons, making him the player who has worn it for the longest time so far. 
Rivaldo - Rivaldo is possibly the man who has enjoyed most success in the no.11 wearing it for the first three of his five seasons at Barcelona. In his first two seasons at Barcelona he was the second top goal scorer in the league scoring 19 and 24 goals respectively. In the 1998/99 season, his second at Barcelona, he won both the FIFA World Player of the Year and European Footballer of the Year awards.
Àngel CuÉllar - CuÉllar took over the no.11 shirt after Gica Hagi left in 1996. Cuellar, who had signed the year before, suffered a nasty anterior cruciate ligament injury during his first official match but went on to win the Spanish Cup and Super Cup, as well as the European Cup Winners Cup under Bobby Robson.
Gheorghe Hagi - Hagi was the first player to wear the no.11 shirt, taking ownership of it in the 1995/96 season, the season that fixed squad numbers were established. The Romanian midfielder spent two seasons at Barcelona after signing from Real Madrid. During his time at Barca he scored Hagi played 35 games, scoring 7 goals and winning a Spanish Super Cup winners medal.
Will Neymar live up to the famous number 11 shirt? Let us know your thoughts. Join the conversation online, on Twitter and on Facebook.
