The reason behind Phil Foden's 47 tattoo & shirt number | OneFootball

Phil Foden's ascent from spectacular wonderkid to Manchester City superstar has been as impressive as it has been swift.

The Stockport-born maestro was quickly identified as a generational talent by Pep Guardiola, who subsequently moulded Foden into one of the world's most devastating attacking midfielders. The 2023/24 campaign in which he won Premier League Player of the Season saw his stock rise even further.

The England international quickly became synonymous with the No.47 - the shirt number he has donned ever since breaking into the first team at the Etihad Stadium. Despite having been offered more orthodox and prestigious numbers in recent years, Foden has stayed loyal to his breakthrough number.

Unlike some of his compatriots that wear less familiar numbers in the Premier League, there is significant meaning behind Foden's decision to embrace the No.47.

Why does Phil Foden wear the No.47 shirt?

Foden has become synonymous with the 47 shirt / JUSTIN TALLIS/GettyImages

There's a moving reason behind Foden's decision to wear his now iconic shirt number. It stems from the passing of his grandfather, Ronnie, who died at the age of 47, with Foden now donning the No.47 to pay tribute to him.

It's been previously revealed that Foden was offered the chance to inherit Sergio Aguero's fabled No.10 jersey after the Argentinian striker left the club at the end of the 2020/21 campaign. However, Foden rejected the opportunity in favour of retaining the No.47.

Speaking about the decision, Foden admitted: "I did think about it. The ten shirt is such a big number in the club, but I just have a thing with 47. I'd like to create my own legacy and keep that number."

Foden has worn the No.47 since making his Man City debut in November 2017 and seems unlikely to ever part ways with his favourite shirt number, especially since he got a tattoo of the No.47 on the right side of his neck in 2023.

Foden already had a tattoo that reads "sky is the limit" on the other side of his neck, which he had done by London-based tattoo artist Gabriel Maniak in February 2022.

Other footballers with iconic shirt numbers

Trent Alexander-Arnold has embraced his academy number / DARREN STAPLES/GettyImages

Foden is not the only England international to have embraced their first ever number, with Trent Alexander-Arnold still donning the No.66 jersey which he was randomly assigned while in the Liverpool academy. Similarly, Declan Rice's No.41 was the midfielder's first number and he retained it when moving from West Ham United to Arsenal in 2023.

David Beckham was another Englishman who became synonymous with shirt numbers, with both the No.7 and No.23 worn by the superstar over the years. After leaving Manchester United to join Real Madrid, Beckham adopted the No.23 due to his admiration for basketball legend Michael Jordan. He also wore the number at LA Galaxy before reversing it to the No.32 during spells with AC Milan and Paris Saint-Germain.

Shirt numbers are often less consistent in Italian football and that was highlighted by Brazil legend Ronaldo. Unable to get his preferred No.9 jersey at Milan, he proceeded to take the No.99 shirt. What's better than one nine? Two nines, of course.

It was a similar story for Ivan Zamorano at Inter. Roberto Baggio's arrival at the club forced the aforementioned Ronaldo to surrender his No.10 shirt and instead adopt the No.9 previously worn by Zamorano. The Chilean striker refused to accept defeat, however, wearing the No.18 but putting an addition symbol between the one and eight to create a unique No.9 jersey.