15 Weirdest Shirt Numbers In Premier League History (Ranked) | OneFootball

The Premier League has seen its fair share of strangest things over the years, from bizarre goals to eccentric celebrations, but perhaps one of the most peculiar aspects of the game is the squad numbers players choose to wear.

While most players stick to the traditional 1-11, some have opted for more unconventional numbers, creating a unique identity for themselves.

Declan Rice.

15 Phil Foden

The Manchester City forward, dubbed the "Stockport Iniesta," has made the number 47 his own, wearing the number throughout his entire career at City thus far.

Foden was given the number during his time at the academy, which he chose as a tribute to his boyhood club, Reddish Vulcans, with the number 47 being part of the postcode of the club's location.

Many fans have, for quite some time, expected Foden to move on to a more 'traditional' number, but he's started to make number 47 his own, and the feeling is he'll stick with that for the rest of his career.

14 Trent Alexander-Arnold

Liverpool's incredible right-back, Trent Alexander-Arnold, has made the number 66 iconic.

The number, initially given to him when he was a youth player at Liverpool, has become synonymous with his name, and he's now arguably the most recognisable player to have ever worn the number.

With the number two, a traditional shirt for right-backs, having been available for Liverpool for quite some time, Trent has stated that he sees no reason to change it, as it reflects his roots in the academy.

13 Declan Rice

As of right now, Declan Rice is West Ham's number 41, but a move to Arsenal for the Englishman is all-but complete.

Rice has stuck with the number 41 since his debut, despite being offered lower numbers as his influence in the West Ham side grew, stating that his original number served as a reminder of his journey and the hard work it took to get to where he is.

To make matters even more interesting, Rice is widely expected to RETAIN the number 41 shirt when he moves to Arsenal for the record fee for a British player, suggesting it'll be one that he carries with him throughout his career.

12 Renato Sanches

Renato Sanches, the dynamic Portuguese midfielder, wore the number 35 during his loan spell at Swansea City, but that isn't the number he actually wanted.

It turns out that Sanches asked to wear the number 85 shirt, a request that was rejected by the Premier League as the number was too high, so he opted to take number 35 as it was the most similar that would be approved.

There's nothing too strange about the number 35, hence why Sanches ranks so low on this list, but it would have been an undeniably incredible site to see the midfielder playing in the Premier League with the number 85 on his back.

11 Clint Dempsey

A number usually reserved for defenders, Clint Dempsey surprised many when he chose the number two whilst at Tottenham Hotspur.

This wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision for the American either, with the talented midfielder choosing to wear the same number when he moved to the MLS with Seattle Sounders.

10 William Gallas

What a character William Gallas was.

When he joined Arsenal from Chelsea, a controversial move by its own standing, Gallas asked higher-ups if he could take the number 13 shirt, but the number wasn't avaliable.

Instead of opting for a more traditional number for a defender, such as 5 or 6, Gallas instead wore the number 10 shirt, one almost never used by centre-backs.

What made Gallas' shirt choice even more strange was that he took over the number from Dennis Bergkamp, a man who he couldn't have possibly played any more differently to.

9 Wilfried Bony

Another Swansea player, Wilfried Bony decided to wear the number two shirt when he returned to the club in 2017 following a spell at Manchester City.

What made the choice even more surprising is that the number nine shirt, which is far more commonly worn by strikers, was available, but Bony opted to go for something more unconventional.

As for why that decision was made, Bony explained that he chose the number two because it was his second spell at the Welsh club.

8 Milan Baros

The man who had the number five on his back as Liverpool won their fifth Champions League in 2005 wasn't a defender, but rather Milan Baros, who played as a striker.

A strange choice, it seems like Baros opted for the number five as nothing else that tickled his fancy was available, rather than for a more sentimental reason like some of the other names on this list.

Nonetheless, it was a pretty strange choice.

7 Asamoah Gyan

The legendary Ghanian striker, whether on the international stage or for any of the clubs he's played for, has always worn the number three.

Gyan has explained, in an interview with Ghana Web that he chose the shirt due to his religious beliefs

6 Paulo Futre

There's nothing strange in the slightest about Futre wearing the number ten shirt when he joined West Ham in 1996, but the circumstances around how he landed on that number is pretty interesting.

Future, on the opening day of the season, kicked up a fuss in the dressing room after learning that he was going to be wearing the number 16, rather than the number ten, which was taken by Jon Moncur.

Moncur, with the help of some money and a stay in his Portuguese villa, graciously gave up his shirt number to Futre, making this an incredibly interesting story.

5 Khalid Boulahrouz

Fans who don't know anything about Boulahrouz might have guessed that he was a striker, based on the fact he wore the number nine shirt for Chelsea, but he was actually a defender.

When he joined the club in 2006, it's claimed that Boulahrouz was "set up" by the kit man, who didn't tell him that the number two shirt, which is much more suited to a defender, was available.

4 Steve Sidwell

Boulahrouz left Chelsea in 2008, and was replaced by Steve Sidwell as the club's number nine, despite the fact that the Englishman, like his predecessor, also wasn't a striker.

Sidwell, who was a midfielder, was said to be given the number nine shirt as a message from Jose Mourinho, who was unhappy that the club's hierarchy didn't grant him his wish of another striker in the summer transfer window.

3 Glen Johnson

Long before the trend of fullbacks coming into midfield started, Glen Johnson wore the number eight shirt upon his move to Stoke City from Liverpool in 2015.

Johnson had worn the number five and two shirts at Portsmouth and Liverpool, but instead of opting for a more traditional number like that, decided to buck the trend and become Stoke's number eight, which was perhaps the highlight of his time at the club.

2 Nicklas Bendtner

Bendtner's high shirt number wasn't because he was coming through the youth team at Arsenal, as before asking for the number 52 shirt, the Danish striker was actually Arsenal's number 26.

Bendtner said that the number was close to him, which is believed to be because 5 + 2 = 7, a number that Nicklas had previously stated was his favourite, but was already occupied.

1 Rui Patricio

In any other circumstance, a goalkeeper wearing the number 11 shirt would be criminal, but in the case of Rui Patricio, the reason is pretty respectable.

After joining from Sporting Lisbon, Wolves gave Patricio the number 11 shirt, which really caught fans of the club and other Premier League clubs off guard.

However, the decision was actually a mark of respect by Patricio, who wanted to leave the number one free, as the shirt was worn by previous keeper Carl Ikeme, who was forced to step away from the pitch after being diagnosed with Leukemia.In truth, football shirt numbers really don't mean that much, and the difference between a player performing well or struggling really won't be impacted by what's on the back of their shirt.

However, as football purists, there's nothing weirder than seeing a defender put in a crunching tackle with the number 10 on their back, or a striker scoring a world-class volley whilst wearing the number two.

But if it means a lot to a player to have the number 52 on their back, or whatever it is, it really doesn't impact the fans, the club or the performances of the player, so more power to them in all honesty.