What Shirt Numbers Will Timo Werner & Hakim Ziyech Wear at Chelsea?
A year on from the arrival of manager Frank Lampard, the departure of Eden Hazard to Real Madrid and the frustrating limitations of a transfer ban, Chelsea’s new-look squad is coming together.
Whether by choice or necessity, Lampard has promoted youth in a way that no Chelsea boss in a generation has, and has been rewarded by the breakout of talents like Tammy Abraham, Mason Mount, Reece James, and more recently Billy Gilmour.
Add to that the pre-arranged capture of Christian Pulisic last summer, the permanent signing of Mateo Kovacic and the early confirmed arrival of Hakim Ziyech from Ajax this summer, as well as the now expected move for RB Leipzig’s Timo Werner following a sudden breakthrough this week.
Werner has been one of the best players in Europe this season, netting 31 times in all competitions for Leipzig and will add supreme attacking quality to Chelsea’s ranks in 2020/21.
What Chelsea Shirt Number Will Timo Werner Wear?
Werner currently wears number 11 for Leipzig and has also worn it for Germany at international level in the past, even though he is typically number nine for Die Mannschaft these days.
That jersey is occupied at Chelsea by Pedro, who has worn it since 2016. But the former Barcelona winger is approaching the end of his contract at Stamford Bridge and will leave this summer – Roma and Valencia have both been linked with the 32-year-old this week.
Given that number nine is currently taken by Abraham, who will be going nowhere, it seems an obvious choice for Werner to inherit 11 from Pedro.
19, a fairly common striker number, is the other jersey he has connections with, having worn it earlier in his career at Stuttgart. That is worn at Chelsea by Mount.
What Chelsea Shirt Number Will Hakim Ziyech Wear?
With the coronavirus crisis completely taking over the last few months, it seems an eternity ago that Chelsea announced an agreement to sign Ziyech from Ajax in mid-February.
The Morocco international rose to major prominence in 2018/19 when Ajax came within a kick of reaching the Champions League final and will go some way to helping replace the creativity and elite spark that was lost when Hazard moved to Spain.
There is one particularly plausible shirt option for him at Chelsea, which is number 22.
That is currently occupied in west London by Pulisic, but the American winger could well take number 10, which was his former jersey at Borussia Dortmund and is expected to be vacated at Chelsea by Willian when his contract expires before next season.
Alternatively, Ziyech himself could take the 10 shirt. However, he switched from 22 to 10 and back to 22 at Ajax, suggesting he prefers and feels more comfortable in the higher digits. Footballers are frequently superstitious creatures of habit after all.
At international level, Ziyech wears number seven for Morocco, which is worn at Chelsea by N’Golo Kante, who would have to vacate it. It is, however, not inconceivable for the Frenchman to leave as 90min revealed in April that Chelsea, while happy, would consider selling if an acceptable offer comes in. Real Madrid are interested and Paris Saint-Germain could move.
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