Just like Michael’s friend Tex on I’m Alan Partridge, I love American stuff.
Obviously, my respect for the English language means that I’d never call my pickup truck ‘Convoy’, as Tex does, but I’m not totally averse to dates being written in reverse order, with the month first – when naming my articles for work in MS-Word, I put YYYY-MM-DD at the front to provide an easy automatic filing.
Which brings us to today’s date, February 17, or 2-17 in the US style – representative of a change made by current Real Madrid head coach Álvaro Arbeloa when he was a player at that club and also at his previous side, Liverpool.
When he moved to Anfield in January 2007 after just half a season with Deportivo de La Coruña, the right-back took the number 2 shirt that had been vacated by the departure of Jan Kromkamp. However, come the summer, he shifted upwards, to 17.
In a Q&A on the official Liverpool website, he explained the switch.
“Because 17 has always been my number,” he said.
“It was the number I wore when I was captain of Castilla [Real Madrid’s second team] and also when I was at Depor.
“When I came to Liverpool, Craig Bellamy wore that shirt so I couldn’t have it, so when he left I asked if I could switch numbers and thankfully it was possible.”
Incidentally, Bellamy would also go on to wear a higher number for Liverpool. In his oft-forgotten second spell in 2011-12, he took the number 39 that he had adopted at both Manchester City and Cardiff City – and would again wear for the latter after leaving Liverpool again.
By that stage, Arbeloa had returned to Spain, signing for Real Madrid in 2009. As at Liverpool, his favoured 17 was held by a striker – in this case, Ruud van Nistelrooy – and so Arbeloa was assigned the 2 that had become free following the long-serving Michel Salgado’s exit.
When the Dutchman left in 2010, the same number move as before was replicated – It was a busy summer all round in terms of digit-swapping at the Bernabéu.
Incidentally, in an interview with the Spanish edition of GQ in 2013, Arbeloa referenced his number as part of a wider point about squad depth.
“‘Starter’ is not a word that I like very much,” he said.
“In the end you’re part of a team and you can start one day and be a substitute the next. I’ve never liked the labels of ‘starter’ or ‘substitute.’
“I consider myself the number 17 of Real Madrid and of the Spanish national team, as important as the number 1 or the number 25. Everyone counts, everyone contributes. To win titles, you need everyone’s help.”
He would remain at Madrid until 2016, returning to England for a short-lived spell at West Ham United. While he only played four times for the Hammers, he did initiate a mini-tradition that only ended last summer.
With 17 unavailable as it was taken by Gökhan Töre, Arbeloa wore 5 for West Ham United and the next two players to wear it were also right-backs, Pablo Zabaleta and Vladimír Coufal.
After the departure of Coufal at the end of 2024-25, centre-back Nayef Aguerd moved from 27 to 5 but joined Olympique Marseille soon after.
Another central defender, Igor Julio, arrived on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion as Aguerd left and he took 5 but what was intended as a season-long loan was terminated in January and he is now back as the Seagulls’ number 3.
As for Arbeloa, he probably enjoys that fact that the numbers of Vinícius Júnior and Kylian Mbappé add up to 17.
