Rodri, Gordon Barcelona Shirt Numbers Confirmed After Last-Gasp Registrations

With just 24 hours until they kick off their 2026–27 La Liga title defense, Barcelona officially registered all four of their summer signings.

Now that the club is back in accordance with La Liga’s 1:1 spending rules, Barcelona was able to splash some cash this summer, welcoming Rodri, Anthony Gordon, Karim Adeyemi and João Cancelo to Catalonia. The reigning Spanish champions also signed young forwards Jesse Bisiwu and Hamza Abdelkarim, forming part of the reserve squad.

The allure of the transfers was soon replaced with apprehension. With each passing day, there seemed little progress in registering Hansi Flick’s new players, and fans worried about the potential repeat of the Dani Olmo disaster from two seasons ago.

Reports even claimed Gordon’s agents met with the club over registration concerns, but all of those have now been put to rest. Rodri, Gordon, Adeyemi and Cancelo are all officially on the books and therefore available to feature at Elche on Sunday.

Bisiwu, though, will be registered with Barça Atlètic, the club’s B team. He will not make the trip with the first team to the Estadio Martínez Valero.

Summer Signings’ Jersey Numbers Revealed

Now that Flick’s four senior signings are officially registered with La Liga, they finally have squad numbers. The Spanish top-flight only allows first-team players to wear numbers 1 to 25.

Rodri will wear his number 16 shirt that he donned at Manchester City and for Spain. The number previously belonged to Fermín Lopez, but the attacking midfielder gave it up to his fellow countryman. Now, Fermín will wear the newly vacated 7 shirt following Ferran Torres’s transfer to PSG.

Gordon owns number 17 at Barcelona. The winger has previously had the number for England. His preferred number 10 shirt already belongs to Lamine Yamal.

Adeyemi gets number 14, previously worn by Marcus Rashford last season. The German wore 27 at Borussia Dortmund, but that number is not available to La Liga first-team players.

To no one’s surprise, Cancelo once again will wear 2, the same number he owned during his previous two stints with Barcelona.

Will Flick’s New Signings Play vs. Elche?

Flick was coy as ever in his pregame press conference on Saturday about his XI, particularly about who will lead his attack. Gordon and Adeyemi are in the running to get the nod at striker, but the world won’t know if either plays as a No. 9 against Elche until Sunday.

The German boss was much more forthcoming about Cancelo. “He could play tomorrow,” Flick said. “He’s prepared and has a fantastic technique and a lot of passion. He gave us so much last season.”

Flick also confirmed Rodri will not play against Elche. The World Cup winner, who has been training separately, is expected to join up with the team next week.

“I’m glad he’s here,” Flick said of Rodri, who pledged the next four years to Barcelona. “He’s a fantastic player, a leader and he has a great personality. Our plan is for him to join the group on Monday.”