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Antoine Griezmann handed Philippe Coutinho's number seven shirt at Barcelona

By Ben Knapton, Senior Reporter | 11 September 2020

Griezmann handed Coutinho's number seven shirt at Barca

Antoine Griezmann will wear the number seven jersey for Barcelona this season, the shirt formerly occupied by Philippe Coutinho at Camp Nou.

Griezmann ended his debut season in Catalonia with 15 goals and four assists to show from 48 appearances across all competitions, during which he donned the '17' for Barca.

Coutinho is back at Camp Nou following his loan spell with Bayern Munich, but Barcelona have announced a rejig of squad numbers ahead of the new La Liga season.

A post on the Catalan club's website read: "Antoine Griezmann will wear the number 7 shirt for FC Barcelona this coming season, following in the footsteps of stars such as [David] Villa, Pedro, [Henrik] Larsson and [Javier] Saviola.

"On July 14, 2019, the Frenchman was presented at the Camp Nou with the number 17 shirt, which he wore last season.

"The number 7 was occupied by Philippe Coutinho at that time, meaning Griezmann could not maintain the squad number he had worn at Real Sociedad and Atletico Madrid."

Coutinho, who has been persistently linked with a move away from Barcelona in recent months, will now sport the '14' going forward.