Returning Barcelona playmaker Denis Suarez says he would like to take over the team's vacant No. 6 jersey worn with such distinction for so many years by Xavi Hernandez.
Barca have exercised a buy-back clause and paid Villarreal €3.25 million to sign Suarez, after the 22-year-old impressed in recent seasons in La Liga with Sevilla and Villarreal, and made his senior Spain debut in a warm-up friendly ahead of this summer's Euro 2016 finals.
Suarez arrives back at the Camp Nou with the Blaugrana No. 6 jersey free after long-serving midfield conductor Xavi left the club a year ago, and Dani Alves wore it for a season but left for Juventus earlier this summer.
In an interview with Mundo Deportivo, the Galician said he would jump at the chance to wear Xavi's number, while making clear that he would take any jersey that he was offered.
"The shirt number is not the most important, but of course of the numbers which are free, for all that Xavi was, I would love to wear that six," Suarez said. "But if it is No. 26, then no problem. Xavi was the best midfielder in history. Everything he did, his turns, his passes..."
Suarez also said that he had often been told his style of play was similar to that of Michael Laudrup, the Danish playmaker who graced Barca's midfield for five years -- usually wearing the No, 9 shirt -- before surprisingly moving to Real Madrid in 1994.
"Many people have told me I look like Michael Laudrup in the way we move," he said. "I am too young to have seen him play, although I have seen some videos. He won everything was an incredible player, historic. I still have a lot of work to do."
Suarez first joined Barca from Manchester City in 2013, and spent one year playing for Barca B before leaving for Sevilla, but said he had been marked by the experience and always hoped to return to the Camp Nou.
"La Masia is like Disneyland -- you have everything there," he said. "And outside, wherever you go, it is just not the same. I was only one year with the youth team, but when I left I was already thinking about returning."
Blaugrana sporting director Robert Fernandez had kept close tabs on him during his 2015-16 campaign at Villarreal, he revealed.
"During the year at Villarreal I spoke a lot with Robert, who treated me really well, made me feel valued," Suarez said. "He came to see me play many games and we would speak a bit afterwards. That was very important for me."
Suarez said he was now very much looking forward to the chance to play alongside new teammate Lionel Messi.
"[Messi] is without doubt the best," he said. "I have never seen a player like him. He has everything. And his humility on the pitch makes the difference -- he plays for the team and improves every day. Maybe you know what dribble he will do, and you are three defenders, but he will do it all the same."