Darwin Nunez might be the latest Liverpool player to change shirt numbers at Anfield.
After speculations on social media that Darwin Nunez is destined to inherit the renowned jersey, Liverpool may have a new number nine this summer.
Roberto Firmino‘s departure this summer has made the number accessible again, after the Brazilian wore it since Mohamed Salah joined the club in the summer of 2017.
Nunez has already worn the jersey for Benfica, so it would not be surprising if he switched numbers for the next season. Wearing number 27 in his debut season at Anfield, he would not be the first striker to do so in the lack of a number nine, because two and seven sum up to nine.
Nunez may not be the only player to switch numbers this summer, with the renowned number seven and eight jerseys also available. Anyone interested in replacing James Milner with Luis Diaz?
Some players place a high value on their jersey numbers, such as Alexis MacAllister, who chose number ten over number eight at Liverpool. Wearing it at Brighton and earlier throughout his career, its significance is evident to the Argentina international, who hails from a country that produced two of the game’s greatest number tens in Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi.
Of course, the other players are unconcerned. Jamie Carragher and Trent Alexander-Arnold were given the numbers 23 and 66, respectively, and they kept with them as the duo became synonymous with such figures.
With that in mind, we’ve compiled an exclusive (but lengthy!) list of Liverpool players who did swap in their original jerseys, along with their motivations for doing so…
The netminders
The goalkeepers come first. There’s nothing really novel here. The customary number one shirts were already assigned to Jerzy Dudek and Alisson Becker when they joined the team in 2001 and 2018, respectively. As a result, they were obliged to choose alternative numerals and settled on 12 and 13.
However, as the number one became available after a season, both shop-stoppers lost no time in selling in. Of course, Alisson taking the number one spot at the expense of Loris Karius, who had joined Besiktas on loan, had the unintended consequence of the German transferring to number 22 upon his return to Anfield if a permanent exit was not available.
When Premier League squad numbers were initially established before of the 1993/94 season, David James made a similar decision. With Bruce Grobbelaar starting at number one, he wore 13 before taking up the number one spot the following summer.
Several swaps
Following their progression through the club’s Academy, a handful of former Liverpool players have now been assigned more than two squad numbers throughout their Reds careers. But we’re going to disregard the bulk, with many frequently not even making appearances in their first jersey numbers, and instead focus on the two primary ‘treble holders’.
Steven Gerrard debuted for Liverpool in 1998/99 as number 28, before switching to number 17 at the start of the 2000/01 triple season. Despite this, he seemed to always have number eight on his mind, and acquired ownership of it in the summer of 2004 after Emile Heskey left.
Meanwhile, Robbie Fowler wore number 23 when he first broke into the Liverpool first squad in 1993/94, before taking over as Liverpool’s number nine in the summer of 1996. Djibril Cisse, who left for Leeds United in November 2001 only to return in January 2006, was the owner of the number jersey upon his return. As a result, he temporarily wore number 11, before returning his previous number the following summer once the Frenchman’s loan was terminated.
It’s a team sport.
Football is a team sport, and some players would selflessly pass aside their old jersey number to new teammates before adopting a new number themselves.
Firmino is the most prominent example, having worn number 11 since his arrival at Liverpool in the summer of 2015. However, two years later, Salah requested the number following his own Reds transfer, so the Brazilian relinquished it and went to number nine instead.
When Harry Kewell and Charlie Adam joined the club in 2003 and 2011, respectively, the same thing happened to Vladimir Smicer and Jay Spearing. With their new teammates requesting numbers seven and twenty, the two moved aside and assumed possession of jerseys eleven and twenty.
In the summer of 2016, Cameron Brannagan gave up his number 32 shirt and transferred to number 25 so that Joel Matip could wear the shirt he had worn during his career at Schalke.
Andrea Dossena also handed up the number two jersey after Glen Johnson was signed in the summer of 2009, albeit the Italian may not have had much say in the matter. After all, he had been judged surplus to needs, but after waiting half a season for an Anfield escape, he briefly wore number 38 before departing for Napoli.
Please include me in the XI.
Some players are simply traditionalists who prefer numbers in the first 11, while some are certainly more attractive than others.
For example, Michael Owen and Sadio Mane would both grab the number 10 jersey as soon as it became available, trading in their respective numbers 18 and 19. Similarly, in the summer of 1996, Steven McManaman and Jamie Redknapp followed Fowler in taking numbers in the main 11 after previously wearing 17 and 15, respectively.
Last summer, Joe Gomez changed his number 12 shirt for the number two, while Sami Hyypia and John Arne Riise wore 12 and 18 before switching to four and six.
Also, keep Fabio Aurelio in your thoughts. Originally a number 12, he was released by Rafa Benitez in the summer of 2010, only to be re-signed by new manager Roy Hodgson. He took over number six because he wanted a change and a fresh start, and he hoped for better success with injuries. It did not achieve the expected result.
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