While there is an argument to be made that squad numbers work best when we count to base-11 – which explains why 12 and 23 endure as goalkeeper numbers, signalling the start of the second and third 11s – there is something pleasing about a player dropping down by 10.
The gold standard in this regard is Xavi Hernández in his early years at Barcelona, moving from 26 to 16 in 2000 and then claiming 6 a year later.
It is a former Barça man that we will focus on, given the fact that the date is July 17, or 17-7.
After a good World Cup in 2014, Barcelona striker Alexis Sánchez was signed by Arsenal. Though the Chilean attacker had worn 9 at Camp Nou, his preference was 7 – at the time, that was held by Tomas Rosický at Arsenal and so Sánchez asked for 17 instead.
That had been worn by Nacho Monreal for the previous year and a half but the left-back was willing to accommodate the request and so he moved to 18.
An alternative solution would have been to give Monreal 3 but instead it went to his rival for the starting spot, Kieran Gibbs, who had previously worn (in order) 46, 34, 40 and 28.
Two years later, Rosický’s time at the Gunners – featuring some bright spots but ultimately plagued by injury – came to an end and Sánchez was able to shear the ‘1’ off his number.
Whether Monreal was offered the chance to shift back to 17 or not, we don’t know – given that he had never previously worn it, it’s unlikely there was much attachment – but in any case, he stayed put with 18.
Instead, 17 was given to Alex Iwobi, who had worn 45 as he broke into the first-team squad the previous season.
The new number served Sánchez well – playing as a floating centre-forward, he posted his best figures for Arsenal, scoring 24 Premier League in an ever-present campaign, 30 in 51 games overall.
It would prove to be his last full season at Emirates Stadium before a move to Manchester United – that didn’t work out too well but twice after that he showed his appreciation for squad numbers with early-season moves when preferred digits became available and that is something we will look at in a subsequent article.
