A regular for Aston Villa and the first-choice left-back for France at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Lucas Digne is now a well-known name in world football.
Long before he had truly established himself as a first-team regular, however, he also spent two years playing for one of the biggest football clubs on the planet, FC Barcelona, sharing the dressing room with greats such as Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Neymar Jr. and Andres Iniesta.
Coming off stints with PSG and AS Roma, Digne was signed to a five-year contract for a reported fee of €16.5 million. He was a bit-part player in Catalunya, mainly playing second-fiddle to Jordi Alba, who was firmly in his prime and one of the best full-backs in the world at the time.
Over the course of those two seasons, he appeared in 45 official matches, with 29 of those being La Liga fixtures. He lifted four titles – 1 La Liga title, 2 Copas del Rey and 1 Spanish Super Cup, before sealing an £18 million move to Everton in August 2018.
Though it has been about a decade since he featured in the famous Blaugrana, he was surprisingly spotted sporting a shirt of Barça’s arch rivals, Real Madrid, while on holiday in St. Tropez.
The shirt which Digne is sporting is from Real Madrid’s historic 2013/14 season. For fans, that year remains one of the most special in the club’s history, as Los Blancos won their much-anticpated 10th UEFA Champions League title that year, beating Atletico Madrid 4-1 after extra time in the final, which took place in Lisbon.
In the same year, Cristiano Ronaldo recorded one of the most memorable individual seasons of all time, scoring 17 goals and providing 5 assists in 11 Champions League appearances. Naturally, this only adds to the jersey’s iconic status.
It is possible that from the perspective of a football fan and someone that watches the game regularly, Lucas Digne may have been a fan of that Real Madrid outfit, but his association with FC Barcelona in the past prevented him from showing admiration to Los Blancos in public.
Speaking of Champions League royalty, Lucas Digne is also reportedly about to join PSG this summer, the team that have won the last two editions of Europe’s most prestigious club competition.
Fans will hope to see the marauding full-back play an important part in helping the Parisians create their own continental dynasty, just like Real Madrid famously did in the 2014-2024 decade.
