Numbers – they form an essential part of a day’s work for anyone involved in finance, statistics or mathematics.
They’re also important to football fans, with the sport’s most famous players becoming synonymous with a particular digit (or digits) on the back of their shirt.
For Liverpool fans, the start of the 2024/25 season is gradually coming into view, with just over three weeks until Arne Slot takes charge of his first match with the Reds when they face Real Betis on their pre-season tour of the USA.
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Nike have already released the home kit which’ll feature at Anfield over the next 12 months, and amid another transfer window awash with rumours about potential signings, supporters might also be paying attention to the shirt number that any new arrival could select.
Let’s take a look at some of the numbers which are available to prospective newcomers at LFC, as well as those which might be taken up by current squad members if they were to switch things up a bit!
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Currently the only vacant number in the classic 1-11 range after Thiago Alcantara’s exit, it’s likely to be bequeathed either to an incoming centre-back or defensive midfielder.
Riccardo Calafiori and David Hancko have been linked with Liverpool in recent weeks but both now seem like improbable targets, whereas Leny Yoro is still of firm interest to Anfield chiefs. He currently wears 15 at Lille but might favour taking on a single digit should he sign for the Reds.
Alternatively, with ‘number 6’ having become football shorthand for a holding midfielder, could Wataru Endo switch from his current number 3, which is typically more associated with a full-back?
Plenty of previous Liverpool goalkeepers clearly haven’t been too superstitious, having taken on what folklore often regards as an unlucky number.
That certainly wasn’t the case for Alisson Becker when he wore it in the 2019 Champions League final (Loris Karius had #1 at the time), and it was duly passed on to Adrian but is currently vacant with the Spaniard now a free agent.
David James and Scott Carson have also worn 13 at Anfield in the squad number era, as did Ray Clemence and Tommy Lawrence in previous generations.
Liverpool’s current second-choice ‘keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has stuck with 62 throughout his time with the Reds. The Irishman might be on the move this summer, but if he doesn’t change his club, could he change the digits on the back of his shirt?
Only five players have had it as their squad number at Liverpool, but that select group includes two club legends in Robbie Fowler and Jamie Carragher.
In more recent times it’s been occupied by livewire attackers Xherdan Shaqiri and Luis Diaz (before the latter switched to 7).
If its next exponent is also an effervescent winger, it might possibly be taken by Crysencio Summerville or Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, although a move for the latter seems unlikely to materialise this summer at least.
Anthony Gordon has dominated Liverpool transfer discussion in recent days since Newcastle’s failed proposal to sell him to us in exchange for Jarell Quansah.
The England winger has worn 8 and 10 at St James’ Park, but both of those are currently occuped at Anfield. Should he end up on the red half of Merseyside, he might go back to a number he previously wore in this part of the world, having been Everton’s number 24 for a couple of seasons.
It’s a shirt which has been idle in the LFC dressing room since Rhian Brewster was sold to Sheffield United in 2020.
Among the more illustrious players to be linked with Liverpool this summer is Joshua Kimmich, for whom the Reds reportedly have an edge on Barcelona in the chase for his signature.
The German currently wears 6 for Bayern Munich and his national team, but he made his name in Bavaria with 32 on his back, and that was his number when he tasted Champions League glory in 2020.
He’d likely stick with 6 if he comes to Anfield and the shirt is still available, but if it becomes occuped in the meantime, he might opt for a throwback and give Joel Matip’s former number a new home.
Aside from new signings, we’ve seen plenty of instances whereby existing Liverpool players swap to a newly-available shirt number – Luis Diaz (23 to 7), Darwin Nunez (27 to 9), Sadio Mane (19 to 10), Bobby Firmino (11 to 9), Harvey Elliott (67 to 19) and Joe Gomez (12 to 2) have all switched in recent years.
For young players coming through the ranks, a switch to a lower shirt number is often regarded as a sign that they’ve firmly made the transition from academy prospect to first-team mainstay, so could we see a few changes at Anfield in that regard?
Shirts 6 and 12-16 are all currently available, as are 23, 25, 27, 29 and 30. Aside from those that we’ve discussed already in this piece, let’s have a little bit of fun and speculate over some prospective internal ‘promotions’.
Conor Bradley (84 to 12): Last worn by another right-back in Gomez, the lowest number outside the 1-11 range is vacant for the Northern Ireland gem to take on if he wishes to divide his current shirt number by seven.
Stefan Bajcetic (43 to 14): The shirt worn by Jordan Henderson for a dozen years at Anfield has been free for the best part of a year. It was previously occupied by the iconic Xabi Alonso in the 2000s – could a modern-day Spanish midfielder at Liverpool now take it on?
Ben Doak (50 to 15): The number 15 has been adorned by a few celebrated LFC forwards in the Premier League era, including Patrik Berger, Peter Crouch and Daniel Sturridge. It’s available for the Scottish teenager if he wishes to switch things up a bit!
Jarell Quansah (78 to 16): The 21-year-old occasionally wore 16 in his days at under-21 level, and it’s a shirt number which hasn’t been worn with any real distinction since the days of Didi Hamann. Two decades on, it’s free for the Warrington powerhouse to truly make it his own!
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