A member of the midfield ranks at La Liga champions Barcelona has surrendered his current Blaugrana squad number, to accommodate the incoming Rodri.

This of course comes ahead of the latter’s imminent arrival in Catalunya’s capital.

Word was forthcoming on Sunday night that Barcelona, after weeks of back-and-forth negotiations, had at last reached a definitive agreement with their Manchester City counterparts to bring Rodri to the Spotify Camp Nou for the seasons ahead.

The 30-year-old, in turn, will imminently touch down in his new home city, ahead of undergoing a medical and putting pen to paper on contract terms with the Blaugrana.

And as alluded to above, ahead of his arrival, one of Rodri’s international teammates has already moved to make his integration into Hansi Flick’s ranks as smooth as possible.

As per a report from journalist Fabrizio Romano:

‘Rodri asked to wear number 16 at Barcelona during his conversations with Fermín López over recent days. Fermín, set to switch to number 7 (following Ferran Torres’ departure) so Rodri will maintain his iconic 16.’