Messi's No. 10 could remain ownerless: Carlos Mac Allister's unusual proposal

The number 10 jersey of the Argentina National Team has had an undisputed owner for years. But imagining an Argentina National Team without Lionel Messi also raises an inevitable question: Who will inherit one of the most iconic shirt numbers in Argentine football?

Carlos Mac Allister already has an idea about how to solve that dilemma. And, unlike what might be assumed, the former player does not believe that Argentina should immediately look for a new number 10. For him, the best thing would be to let some time pass before making a final decision.

“I wouldn’t give the number 10 to anyone”

"I wouldn't give the number 10 to anyone," Mac Allister said during his appearance on ESPN when referring to the future of the historic shirt number once Messi is no longer part of the National Team.

The proposal does not mean retiring the shirt or leaving it permanently vacant. His idea is different: to avoid immediately naming a single heir and allow several footballers to wear it until the time comes to choose. To create a rotation among several players for a certain period of time so that the coaching staff has clarity on who has enough to take on the historic number 10.

Among the candidates, he mentioned Enzo Fernández, Julián Álvarez, Lautaro Martínez, Alexis Mac Allister, and Nico Paz. The idea would be for each one to be able to wear it for a certain period and for the final decision to come after observing how that transition unfolds.

How long would you wait before choosing the new No. 10?

Mac Allister even set an approximate timeframe for the process. As he explained, he would let “eight or nine months” pass before deciding who should definitively keep the jersey that Messi turned into one of the great symbols of the Argentina National Team.

The proposal presents an unusual scenario: instead of immediately choosing an heir, the number 10 could pass from one footballer to another.

Mac Allister linked his position to what happened after the era of Diego Maradona, a transition he experienced up close as a member of the national team.

For now, the discussion about who will inherit the number 10 jersey belongs to the future. However, another of the great responsibilities that Lionel Messi will leave behind already has a successor: the captain’s armband. Lionel Scaloni confirmed that Cristian “Cuti” Romero will be the one in charge of taking over the captaincy in the new era of the Argentina National Team.

“Cuti is going to be the captain”, the coach stated, explaining that the defender was already third in the captaincy line behind Messi and Nicolás Otamendi. Thus, while the team’s leadership already has a defined heir, it still remains to be decided who will wear one of its heaviest symbols: the number 10 shirt.

When the time comes to make that decision, Mac Allister's proposal presents a different scenario: that Messi's number 10 should not pass directly to an heir, but instead go through a transition period before finding its new owner.

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