Barcelona's number 10 shirt is one of the most iconic in world football. Currently held by Ansu Fati - a man once touted for a future at the very top of the game - the legendary shirt has passed through no less than 59 players since the turn of the 20th century, gracing the backs of some of the world's finest ever players in the process.

But of those 59, who have done the best job of fulfilling the lofty expectations that come along with the iconic shirt and number. From Brazilian superstars like Ronaldinho and Rivaldo to World Cup winning icons just as Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi, we take a look at 10 of the most qualified candidates.

10 Hristo Stoichkov

Barcelona career span: 1990-1995 & 1996-1998

If ever an indicator was needed as to the calibre of player who are going to feature today, Hristo Stoichkov ranking at the bottom of our list is probably quite a good one. Indeed, the legendary Bulgarian forward would no doubt have ranked higher, were it not for the relatively brief period of time that he actually bore the number 10 on his back.

Despite playing for Barcelona for five seasons in the early 1990's, Stoichkov actually only wore the number 10 for part of the 1993/1994 season - a year in which he scored 24 goals in 48 appearances for the Blaugrana. That being his most productive year in a Barca shirt, however, many lasting memories of 'El Pistolero' will be with the iconic number on his back.

9 Pep Guardiola

Barcelona career span: 1984-2001

Perhaps a surprise to some, given his position and play style on the pitch for Barcelona, but Pep Guardiola was once the brief custodian of the number 10 shirt, having inherited the number from Eusebio (no, not that one) for the 1991/1992 season. A deep-lying playmaker by trade, Guardiola hardly seemed the ideal fit for the number, and would in fact go on to register zero goals across the 12 months in which he wore it.

A player who would go on to write his own legend for Barcelona, however - instead eventually settling upon the more suitable number 4 - Guardiola still deserves a nod of recognition in our countdown today. In fact, in a strange twist of fate, it would actually be Guardiola himself (this time as manager) who would hand out the number 10 to another on our list today, but more on that later.

8 Romario

Barcelona career span: 1993-1995

One of the highest scorers in footballing history, Romario notched an incredible 690 career goals across his 24-year domestic career - with a further 55 coming in his 70 appearances in a Brazil shirt. Another relatively short-term holder of the number 10, Romário had the number on his back for both of his two seasons at Barcelona (1993/1994, 1994/1995), sharing the number with his aforementioned strike partner Stoichkov in his debut campaign.

Again, despite the fleeting nature of his time at Barcelona, Romário remains one of the most iconic players ever to have played the game, and his 32 goals in his debut season at Barcelona was the highest he would ever return in a single campaign in European football - tied with his final season at PSV.

7 Evaristo

Barcelona career span: 1957-1962

Delving deep into Barcelona's storied history for our next inclusion, Evaristo de Macedo Filho - more commonly known as just Evaristo - is a man who holds a number of special records. Born in Rio, Brazil, but lured to Madrid by an offer of £6,000-per-year (roughly £150,000-per-year in today's money) and his very own Mercedez-Benz, Evaristo joined Barcelona from Flamengo in the summer of 1957, inheriting the number 10 shirt for his debut season.

The talented forward would go on to become the first man ever to score in an official match at the Nou Camp, also becoming the first to notch a hat-trick in the ground just months later. In his second season, Evaristo famously scored another hat-trick - this time against eternal rivals Real Madrid - helping to propel Barcelona to their first league title in six seasons. Things would eventually turn sour between club and player however, with Barcelona cutting Evaristo due to foreign-player limitations, with the player himself opting to join Real Madrid. Ouch.

6 Luis Suarez

Barcelona career span: 1955-1961

No, not that Luis Suarez, although still a man with an amazing goal return to his name, Luis Suarez Miramontes wore the number 10 for Barcelona for three seasons between 1957 and 1961. The recipient of the 1960 Balon d'Or, and nicknamed 'El Arquitecto' - unsurprisingly 'The Architect' in English - Suárez was a creative wide player, with a knack for finding space between the opposition's midfield and back line.

After registering 62 times for Barca, Suárez would go on to play for Inter Milan, where he would make 256 appearances across his ten seasons in Milan. After retiring, Suárez would actually return to manage his beloved Inter on three separate occasions, also taking charge of the Spain national side between 1988-1991.

5 Laszlo Kubala

Barcelona career span: 1951-1961

Brought to Barcelona as a refuge, fleeing the Cold War, Hungarian-born Laszlo Kubala had a dramatic start to his time in Spain; being banned from playing upon arrival, due to his status as a refugee without Spanish citizenship. Eventually granted permission to play in two friendly matches against Frankfurter S.V., Kubala made his immense ability clear immediately, scoring six goals and assisting a further five across the games.

After being allowed to take part in the following 1951/1952 season, Kubala hit an astonishing 26 goals in 19 matches - including a record seven goals in a 9-0 win against Sporting de Gijón, a record that still stands in La Liga to this day. Kubala would go on to add a further 118 goals to his account across his ten years in Spain, before eventually leaving to join Toronto City in 1962. After hanging up his boots, he would also return to manage Barcelona twice.

4 Diego Maradona

Barcelona career span: 1982-1984

A man to whom no fan of football needs an introduction, Diego Maradona was immediately handed the number 10 shirt upon his arrival from Boca Juniors for a then-world record fee of £5 million. A hit from the off, Maradona would become the first man in history to receive a standing ovation from Real Madrid fans at the Santiago Bernabeu; having rounded the keeper, sat down the last defender, and then rolled the ball into an unguarded goal to give Barcelona the win in El Clásico. To this day, only Andres Iniesta and Ronaldinho have matched this feat.

Despite his stunning talent, Maradona's time in Spain would be cut brutally short. After first suffering from a serious bout of hepatitis, Maradona would later have his ankle broken by 'the Butcher of Billbao' Andoni Goikoetxea, an injury which threatened to jeopardise his entire playing career. After three months out, Maradona would eventually get his revenge, triggering a mass brawl in the 1984 Copa del Rey Final, in which he elbowed, kneed and kicked multiple players. With the incident witnessed live by over 100,000 fans - including the King of Spain - Barcelona were forced into selling their prized number 10, receiving another world record fee of £6.9 million as he moved to Napoli. The rest for Maradona, as they say, is history.

3 Rivaldo

Barcelona career span: 1997-2002

From one absolute legend of the game, to another, Rivaldo held Barcelona's number 10 shirt for the last two seasons of his five-year stay in Spain. Having joined from Deportivo for £20 million, expectations were high for the mercurial forward upon his arrival, but Rivaldo wasted no time in delivering against these. His first season saw 28 goals in 51 appearances, with Barcelona claiming the Copa del Rey and La Liga title - the latter also being defended the following year.

Such was his impact, that Rivaldo was named La Liga Best Foreign Player in his debut season for Barcelona, before also being crowned FIFA World Player of the Year and World Soccer Player of the Year in the following 1999 campaign. The Brazilian would also be crowned the top goalscorer of the 1999/2000 Champions League campaign, notching 10 times across his 14 appearances, Rivaldo would eventually depart for AC Milan in 2002, but not before becoming the fifth-highest goalscorer in Barcelona's history, now eighth due to the additions of Samuel Eto'o, Luis Suárez, and a certain Lionel Messi.

2 Ronaldinho

Barcelona career span: 2003-2008

A man who quite literally inspired a generation of footballers all around the world - and remarkably the first on our list today to have held the number of 10 shirt for five or more years consecutively - what list on Barcelona's history wouldn't be complete without the inclusion of Ronaldinho.

Regarded as perhaps the most skillful and talented played of all time (although fans of our number one today, may have something to say on that), Ronaldinho made the utterly sublime look near-mundane, routine embarrassing some of the greatest defences and defenders on the planet. Every bit the modern-day number 10 - a creative and skillful attacking midfielder, with both an eye for goal and a killer pass - Ronaldinho still epitomises the position to many, and is one of the greatest players ever to wear a Barcelona shirt, regardless of the number on the back.

1 Lionel Messi

Barcelona career span: 2004-2021

672 goals. Just let that sink in. By any normal (or I dare say human) standards, 25 goals in a season is a fantastic return. At that rate, it would take 27 years to match Lionel Messi's return in a Barcelona shirt - and that's before you even add on his further 269 assists.

Messi inherited Ronaldinho's number 10 in the 2008/2009 season, after the former departed for AC Milan, being given the number by manager Pep Guardiola who was a staunch believer in Messi's ability. In his first season in his new number, Messi would register 38 times in 51 appearances, in what was arguably the first appearance of the lethal goalscorer that Messi would become. Not just Barcelona's greatest ever number 10, but the greatest number 10 in the history of world football.