By all accounts, Arsenal will be very busy in the summer transfer window. With rumours swirling around about potential incomings as well as outgoings, fans can expect plenty of changes to the first-team squad.
Perhaps the biggest one could be shirt numbers. Any new arrival at the Emirates Stadium will be allocated a squad number, but certain departures could allow those who are staying to make a change, whilst one particular exit in the January transfer window may benefit Gabriel Martinelli.
Ahead of this season, Thomas Partey and Emile Smith Rowe upgraded from no.18 and no.32 to no.5 and no.10 respectively, whilst Martin Odegaard was handed the no.8 shirt upon sealing his permanent move from Real Madrid after wearing no.11 during his loan spell with Arsenal last season.
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Looking ahead to the 2022/23 campaign and there could be at least two first-team squad number alteration announcements as Bernd Leno's expected departure may allow Aaron Ramsdale to take on the no.1 shirt having worn no.32 during his first season at the club after his £24m arrival from Sheffield United.
The other change could be Martinelli ditching the no.35 he's worn since arriving at Arsenal in the summer of 2019 and having already revealed his plan to emulate Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, the 20-year-old could soon inherit the rather iconic no.14 shirt after it was vacated by the former Gunners captain in January.
"I want to follow in Aubameyang’s footsteps, he’s a captain, he wears the number 14 shirt," he said. "That is a symbol for this club and of course, I hope to be very successful at Arsenal."
If Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta and technical director Edu decide to integrate William Saliba into the first-team squad next season then the defender will need a new shirt number as the no.4 which he had during the first half of last season has since been allocated to Ben White and that's unlikely to change.
Luckily, Saliba's shirt number at Marseille may offer a solution as he could take the no.2 shirt which has been vacant this season due to Hector Bellerin being out on loan at Real Betis. With talks over a permanent move for the Spaniard on the horizon, this likely exit can potentially help the France international.
In terms of potential incomings, in addition to Matt Turner's move which is expected to be completed at the end of the season, football.london understands that Arsenal want to sign a right-back, a central midfielder and two forwards as Arteta looks to bolster a squad that he hopes will be playing Champions League football next term.
This is where the likely departures of Alexandre Lacazette, Lucas Torreira, Alex Runarsson, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Cedric Soares can help as Darwin Nunez, Marcus Rashford, Turner, Jhilmar Lora and Fabian Ruiz could inherit their shirt numbers if they were to all make the move to the Emirates.
So, assuming Kieran Tierney, White, Partey, Gabriel Magalhaes, Bukayo Saka, Odegaard, Smith Rowe, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Nuno Tavares and Albert Sambi Lokonga are among those to stick with their current squad numbers, below are the potential Arsenal shirt number changes for the 2022/23 season after the summer transfer window.
1. Ramsdale, 2. Saliba, 9. Nunez, 11. Rashford, 13. Turner, 14. Martinelli, 15. Lora, 17. Fabian Ruiz.
