Marcus Rashford's desire to wear the FC Barcelona shirt came true, and pending his official presentation, which is scheduled for this Wednesday (July 23), the 27-year-old left winger has already chosen his new number. The Englishman decided to put the number '14' on his back.
This number is more than special for the English striker, as he chose it because it was the one worn by his idol Thierry Henry both at Arsenal and at Barça (2007-2010), with whom he feels identified due to his versatility and freedom when attacking.
Thus, Rashford becomes the new bearer of the number '14', one of the most emblematic numbers in football and with a strong symbolic charge in the history of Barça.
Although it was not used by Johan Cruyff during his time as a player at the club - where he wore the number 9 - the '14' has been closely linked to his figure for his legendary career at Ajax, where he did immortalize it.
The '14', part of Marcus Rashford's DNA
In this sense, the number '14' is no stranger to Marcus Rashford, since the British attacker wore this number in the 2015/16 season in the Manchester United U-21 team, thus taking the first steps in his career as a professional, in a stage that marked the rise of the figure he is today.
Later, in the first team of the 'red devils', Rashford went on to wear the number '19', before assuming the number '10'. However, this summer, the English club decided to assign this last number to Matheus Cunha, newly incorporated into the squad, leaving Rashford without the number that had accompanied him in recent years.
Rashford is already preparing for the Asian tour
It is expected that Marcus Rashford will be included in coach Hansi Flick's squad for the Asian tour that will pit the Blaugrana team against Vissel Kobe (July 27), FC Seoul (July 31) and Daegu FC (August 4).
It should be noted that the player who landed on Sunday afternoon (July 20) in Barcelona was already exercising at the Ciutat Esportiva, but individually, because the rest of his teammates have been training intensely for more than a week, while the new '14' must integrate little by little.
Rashford could represent a piece that can be distributed in different ways on the field, since he can play both on the left and right wing, as well as as a '9', taking into account that Robert Lewandowski is already 36 years old, although for that position Flick also has Ferran Torres.
However, the player's desire to resemble his idol 'Titi' Henry makes him have a certain charm for the '9' position, something he made clear in an interview he gave a few months ago, which will make the Barça coach have a nice task if the player has a good performance in the attack zone.
"My idol is Thierry Henry. Like him, I enjoy playing as a nine more and more," said the '14' of Barça.