Chris WrightJul 29, 2025, 04:51 PM ET
Chris WrightJul 29, 2025, 04:51 PM ET
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While it had long been suspected that a switch of squad number was imminent,Real Madridhave confirmedthat star strikerKylian Mbappéwill be pulling on the club’s revered No. 10 shirt for the 2025-26 season.
Aftersources told ESPNon July 22 that the 26-year-oldFranceinternational would be switching from the No. 9 he wore in his debut campaign at the Bernabéu, the man himself effectively confirmed the news the following day witha succinct post on Xwhich simply read “10.”
Mbappé was the club’s top goal scorer in all competitions with 44 goals in 59 games last season wearing the equally iconic No.
9, with that haul earning him the first European Golden Shoe of his career. However, the striker has worn the No. 10 shirt withLes Bleusfor many years, although he wore the No.
7 at former clubParis Saint-Germainas firstNeymarand thenOusmane Dembéléoccupiedle numéro dix.
He will therefore take up the shirt which has been vacated byLuka Modricafter the playmaker ended his long and wildly successful 13-year run at Madrid for a transfer toAC Milanearlier this month.
Of course, the No. 10 shirt carries with it a deep and historic significance at Real Madrid, with some of the club’s biggest and most legendary names having worn it. So stacked is the roster of former that there isn’t even room in this rundown of the 10 most iconic No.
10s for the likes of Günter Netzer, Manuel Velázquez, Wesley Sneijder andJames Rodríguez, who will all have to make do with these most sincerest of honorable mentions.
-Xabi Alonso’s Real Madrid: One month in, what do we know?-As Yamal gets new number, who are greatest players to wear Barça’s No. 10?
Kopa first caught Real Madrid’s eye when his performance for France againstSpainin 1955 earned him the nickname “Little Napoleon,” and the following year he joinedLos Blancosafter losing the first-ever European Cup final to them while playing forStade de Reims. He quickly became an integral part of that all-conquering Madrid team that would go on to win three European Cups and twoLaLigatitles before the end of the decade.
A squat and skilful inside forward, Kopa saw his formidable form rewarded with the Ballon d’Or in 1958, before finishing runner-up in 1959 behind teammate Alfredo Di Stefano. His name now bears the trophy awarded at the Ballon d’Or gala to the best player under 21.
Alongside Kopa and Di Stefano, Puskas has gone down in history as one of the very finest footballers ever to have donned the Real Madrid shirt (wearing the No. 10 regularly between 1958 and 1964).
Despite only signing for the Spanish giants at the comparatively old age of 31, the Hungarian colossus helped drive the club to instant success by winning three European Cups, five consecutive LaLiga titles and four Pichichi awards as the league’s top scorer. Having netting 242 goals in just 262 games, the Galloping Major is still sixth on Madrid’s all-time goal chart despite retiring in 1966.
Stielike first came to prominence as part of the famousBorussia Monchengladbachside that cantered to three consecutiveBundesligatitles and the UEFA Cup in the mid-to-late 1970s. The deep-lying midfielder then moved to Madrid for the 1977-78 season and promptly won the LaLiga title in his debut year in Spanish football.
Hard-working and intelligent, Stielike wore the vaunted No.10 jersey between 1979 and 1983 during which he was voted LaLiga’s Best Foreign Player four times in a row. Stielike’s trophy-laden run at the Bernabéu culminated with the 1984-85 UEFA Cup, after which he signed for Swiss clubNeuchatel Xamax.
One of the most gifted attacking midfielders of his generation, Hagi made the leap from Romanian football to the bright lights of Real Madrid after turning heads at the 1990FIFA World Cup. A decent first season was followed by a much more productive second, but still Madrid failed to find much success during what was a relatively low ebb for the club.
Hagi left Spain after losing toAtlético Madridin the 1991-92Copa del Reyfinal and joinedBrescia, where he was reunited with several of his national teammates under Romanian coach Mircea Lucescu. After a two-year spell atBarcelona, Hagi enjoyed the most successful years of his career atGalatasaraywhile also leading his country to the knockout phases of the 1994 and 1998 World Cups.
Source: Espnsoccer
