Barcelona in-form winger handed the No. 10 shirt with his national team

It has been a special season so far for Barcelona winger Raphinha, who has completely flipped his situation after being linked with a departure during the summer.

The 27-year-old winger is now one of Hansi Flick’s untouchables in the team and is also one of the five club captains for the season.

Along with Lamine Yamal and Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha is now a part of one of the most feared attacking units in Europe currently.

Raphinha’s success rewarded

Given his form and success with Barcelona this season, Raphinha has now become a mainstay in the Brazilian national team setup as well.

In fact, ahead of their upcoming FIFA World Cup qualifying fixtures in the ongoing international break, the 27-year-old winger has been handed the No. 10 jersey by the Selecao.

Raphinha will thus be following in the footsteps of other Barcelona and Brazil legends like Rivaldo, Romario, Ronaldinho, and Neymar.

The No. 10 jersey indicates the standing that the Barcelona winger enjoys in the Brazil setup as he is seen as one of the leading faces of the rebuild that manager Dorival Junior is planning after a disappointing run of results.

At the same time, the new number could also point to a new role for the former Leeds United man in the national team setup as he could be used as a central attacking midfielder by Dorival – mimicking a tactic that Hansi Flick has successfully used this term.

In fact, Raphinha already played in the No. 10 role for Brazil against Peru during the previous international break and even scored a brace.

The fact that there are a plethora of options in the right flank for the Selecao like Savinho, Estevao, and Rodrygo Goes also plays a part in Dorival’s idea of utilising Raphinha through the middle.