New 10 at Real Madrid

Real Madrid announced yesterday that French striker Kylian Mbappé will wear the number 10 shirt starting next season, replacing Croatian Luka Modric, a club legend.

The Merengue team posted a photo on social media of this season's jersey, featuring Mbappé's name and number 10, while the French striker also appears on the club's website with his new number.

Mbappé is leaving behind the number 9 he wore in his debut season at the White House and will now wear the one he usually wears with the French national team.

In addition to Modric, other historic Real Madrid players such as Luis Figo, Clarence Seedorf, Mesut Ozil, Michael Laudrup and Ferenc Puskas also wore the number 10.

A great coincidence

Mbappé revived the story of his idol Cristiano Ronaldo, who was unable to wear his iconic number 7 when he joined Real Madrid in 2009.

That season, that number was worn by another legendary Real Madrid striker, Raúl González, who was the team's top scorer and also the Champions League's top scorer for nearly a decade.

The following year, Raúl left for Schalke 04 in Germany and Cristiano Ronaldo “recovered” the “7” that he continues to wear on all his shirts to this day, while the “9” was kept by Frenchman Karim Benzema.

In addition to this change, the Whites also confirmed that defender Raúl Asencio is back with the first team and wearing the number 17 shirt, which was vacant following the departure of Lucas Vázquez.

Waiting for the judge

Real Madrid will find out in the coming days whether they will have to make their La Liga debut on August 19 against Osasuna or if they will be granted the postponement they requested due to their participation in the Club World Cup.

The Sole Competition Judge will be in charge of making the decision this week.— EFE