There is no ambiguity about a Barcelona shirt. The combination of blue and dark red in vertical bars belongs to this club, and it has been borrowed, referenced and half-copied by everyone from local sides to international brands.

The interesting thing is how often the club has quietly changed the stripes themselves: the width of the bars, whether they run the full body, whether they break at the side seam. Two Barcelona shirts from different years can look like different designs while both being unmistakably the same shirt.

The number 10 on a Barcelona shirt carries more weight here than at almost any other club, because of who has worn it and for how long. Printing it is not a neutral act — people will read it as a statement about an era.

That does not make it the wrong choice. It makes it a choice. If you want something quieter, a surname works; if you want something that reads as current, print whoever is wearing it now.

Look at the side seam. On a striped shirt the bars should continue across where the front and back panels meet. On cheaper versions they do not line up, and it is visible the moment someone moves an arm.

Then the fit: Spanish cut, between English and Italian, so your usual size is normally right — up one if layering. And if the shirt is for a child, buy the current season rather than an older design, because the cuts on the older ones are noticeably narrower.