Was it really going to be anyone else?
Barcelona have named Lionel Messi as their new club captain ahead of the 2018/19 season. The decision comes after Andrés Iniesta bid farewell to the La Liga club after 18 years at Barça, moving on to join Vissel Kobe in Japan.
Messi has captained Barcelona on several occasions in the past and has led the Argentina national team for the past seven years.
The forward will share the responsibility with Sergio Busquets, Gerard Piqué and Sergi Roberto, who will act as vice captains throughout the upcoming La Liga season.
🔵🔴 Four Barça captains for this season: all from La Masia!
1⃣ Messi
2⃣ Sergio
3⃣ @3gerardpique
4⃣ @SergiRoberto10 https://t.co/3ZPXmJr6Ub— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) August 10, 2018
Barcelona go into the season as La Liga champions off the back of a productive summer, bringing in Malcom from Bordeaux, Arthur from Grêmio and keeping hold of Ousmane Dembélé, who was linked with a move away to Arsenal.
They also managed to shift some deadwood in Yerry Mina, Lucas Digne and André Gomes, who all joined Everton.
Barça boss Ernesto Valverde will be confident of his chances of retaining his league title after Real Madrid sold Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus.
It should be noted, however, that Spanish clubs still have until the end of August to buy and sell players, despite the Premier League’s transfer window shutting early.
