🔢 Man City’s Available Shirt Numbers for Mateo Kovacic, Including His Favorites from Chelsea & Croatia
The midfielder is expected to join Manchester City in the coming days.
Manchester City are set to announce the signing of Chelsea midfielder Mateo Kovacic soon, and the deal might be finalized before the end of the week.
The player signed personal terms with the triple champions weeks ago, and the teams merely needed to finalize a transfer fee. However, the Italian journalist tweeted on Wednesday that an initial price of £25 million had been agreed upon, which may climb by another £5 million depending on the team’s success in the next years.
Kovacic’s arrival will strengthen Pep Guardiola’s midfield options, and when the transaction is finalized, fans will be waiting to see which number the Croatian is assigned. There are also plenty of options, with numerous premium jerseys available.
No.1 is surprisingly available, despite Kovacic refuses to wear the shirt number allotted to goalkeepers. He could be lured by the empty no.11 jersey, which was last worn by Oleksandr Zinchenko. Twelve is also available for Kovacic, as is 15, which no City player has worn since 2019.
Other typical numbers for signings include 22, 24, 27, 28, 29, and 30. Kovacic’s first shirt at Inter Milan was number 29, and he may wear it again now that he is 29.
Kovacic wears number eight for Chelsea, and that shirt number is expected to become available soon, with Ilkay Gundogan’s transfer to Barcelona sure to be announced. Kovacic picked the no.8 jersey for the national team and his first club, Dinamo Zagreb, after initially wearing 17 at Stamford Bridge.
At Inter, he had 29 and then 10, with Jack Grealish currently holding the latter position at City. Meanwhile, his Real Madrid squad numbers were 16 and 23, which are no longer available at City, with 16 being retained by Rodri and 23 retired in honor of the late Marc-Viven Foe.
If Joao Cancelo leaves City, there’s a good chance that no.7, 13 (Zack Steffen), and 14 (Aymeric Laporte) will be available. Current members of Guardiola’s side could also claim the available shirts, with Cancelo choosing seven after Raheem Sterling left last summer.
