Premier League Players Who Need a New Shirt Number in 2020/21
Liverpool have confirmed that home-grown winger Curtis Jones will wear the club’s number 17 shirt next season. Digits that might be considered a ‘first-team’ shirt after trading down from the number 48 jersey - distinctly a reserve or academy shirt - he has worn for the Reds so far.
But there are plenty more high profile players in the Premier League who need the same treatment ahead of next season, including two of Jones' own Anfield teammates.
Here's a look at 11 Premier League players who need a new shirt number in 2020/21...
Note: Not all suggested numbers are currently free but all could feasibly become available before the start of next season.
Eric Garcia #50 (Man City)
Even though Manchester City are expected to try and sign two new centre-backs in the transfer market this summer, chances are that 19-year-old Eric Garcia will remain a part of the first-team squad after making 18 senior appearances this season – most of them since January.
City currently have both the number four and number six shirts available, although they could be held for new arrivals. The likes of Kalidou Kouliably, Milan Skriniar, Jonathan Tah and Dayot Upamecano are all on the club’s radar.
Possible numbers: 3, 4, 6, 13, 15, 18, 19, 23, 24
Neco Williams #76 (Liverpool)
Welsh full-back Neco Williams played 90 minutes in all five of Liverpool’s domestic cup games earlier this season and has come into the fold in the Premier League since the campaign restarted.
With the Reds unlikely to do much spending this summer, the likelihood is that the versatile teenager will remain part of Jurgen Klopp’s plans. The time has therefore surely come for him to trade in his current 76 shirt for something more befitting a first-team player.
Possible numbers: 19, 21, 25, 28
Brandon Williams #53 (Man Utd)
Brandon Williams has had a whirlwind year at Manchester United. At the start of the season the home-grown starlet was only just a new permanent member of the Under-23 squad, but he has since been catapulted to first-team level and looks set to stay.
Williams is United’s chief deputy at both right-back and left-back, with neither position appearing to be high on the club’s list of summer transfer priorities.
Possible numbers: 12, 14, 19, 27, 28
Billy Gilmour #47 (Chelsea)
Had it not been for injury prematurely ending his season, teenage Scotsman Billy Gilmour would have been a key player in Chelsea’s campaign run-in, having been permanently added to the first-team squad as of February.
Gilmour was superb when Chelsea dumped Liverpool out of the FA Cup in March and was starting to keep the much more experienced and established Jorginho out of the team.
Possible numbers: 6, 14, 16, 21, 25
Declan Rice #41 (West Ham)
Assuming he stays at West Ham this summer, which is no sure thing, it is time that Declan Rice had a lower shirt number - not least because he’s been a key player for nearly three seasons.
Rice has held the Hammer’s number 41 shirt ever since making his senior debut in 2017. He has previously worn the number five and number six shirts at various junior levels, though the latter has been retired by the club.
Possible numbers: 5, 12, 14, 15
Adama Traore #37 (Wolves)
Wolves winger Adama Traore is clearly attached to the number 37 because it is the shirt he also wore at former club Middlesbrough before joining Wolves in 2018.
Part of the reason for that is likely to be a good feeling he gets from it, which suggests he is unlikely to actually change. Another is the fact it as a seven in it, with seven and 27 among the shirts he has previously worn for former teams at various levels.
Possible numbers: 12, 14, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25
Gabriel Martinelli #35 (Arsenal)
Number 35 was a fitting shirt for Gabriel Martinelli to take when he first arrived at Arsenal last summer, then an unknown teenager from Brazil. It wasn’t clear back then how many first-team chances he might get with the Gunners.
Now, however, things are different. Martinelli, despite injury ending his season early, has emerged as a star of the future and a player Arsenal will be looking to build around.
Possible numbers: 7, 10, 11, 18, 25
Scott McTominay #39 (Man Utd)
Scott McTominay is still wearing the same number 39 shirt he had when he initially broke into the Manchester United first-team back in 2017. Now that he’s an important member of a developing young squad it feels an appropriate time to change.
Number 16 has fine midfield connotations at Old Trafford, having previously been worn by Roy Keane and Michael Carrick. But the club needs to take it off Marcos Rojo first.
Possible numbers: 4, 12, 16, 19
Bukayo Saka #77 (Arsenal)
Bukayo Saka had only just celebrated his 18th birthday when he started playing regularly for Arsenal’s first-team earlier this season and could not have dreamed that he would finish the campaign as one of the squad’s brightest lights.
The Gunners hand shirt numbers to all Under-23 players, even those not on the brink of a senior call-up, and Saka should have a jersey that reflects his new-found status.
Possible numbers: 7, 10, 11, 18, 25
Phil Foden #47 (Man City)
There is now no question that Phil Foden occupies an important place in Manchester City’s squad, especially with the imminent departure of club legend David Silva later this month. Perhaps even taking the Spaniard’s number 21 could be the perfect passing of the torch.
Foden, who was formerly assigned the number 80 shirt prior to breaking into the first-team, has played in all but one of his team’s games since the season restarted.
Possible numbers: 15, 18, 19, 21, 23, 24
Trent Alexander-Arnold #66 (Liverpool)
There is no great significance or personal meaning behind Trent Alexander-Arnold’s now famous number 66 shirt at Liverpool. It was just the shirt he was first given when he made the breakthrough and has so far not requested to change it to more traditional lower digits.
At long last, Liverpool’s number two shirt has come available. Depending on Dejan Lovren’s future, Alexander-Arnold he could even just trim one of the sixes off his back.
Possible numbers: 2, 6
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