There's one obvious route for new summer signing Joshua Zirkzee to go, but other options are available
(Image credit: Future)
Not sure about you, but when we at FFT were kids on lazy summer holidays away from school, we used to sit and sketch out what we thought our teams' squad numbers ought to be for the new season ahead.
That was in the days when numbers 1 to 11 were more highly prized and players used to get upgraded as a rite of passage, of course, whereas nowadays more and more players are devoted to the numbers they get given early in their careers: Phil Foden's 47 for Manchester City, Trent Alexander-Arnold's 66 for Liverpool, and so on.
So it's not as straightforward as it used to be to guess where a marquee signing might fit into the squad number hierachy - including new Manchester United centre-forward Joshua Zirkzee.
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Which number will Joshua Zirkee have on his shirt at Manchester United?
The good news for old-schoolers is that Zirkzee does not seem to have a particular preference: he's worn several different numbers throughout his career, generally trying to lower it as he goes. Within reason, like; he's not going to go full Milan Baros and wear number 5. He'd have to fight Harry Maguire for it anyway.
Zirkzee's first senior outings for Bayern Munich came in the number 35 shirt in 2019/20, but the following season he was given number 14, as is only right and proper for a Dutchman having been famously favoured by Johan Cruyff.
Zirkzee's move on loan to Parma saw him wear 17, then in another loan to Anderlecht, it was 23. On his return to Bayern Munich, he was in 32, with his number 14 having been taken by Paul Wanner. In his first half-season at Bologna, Zirkzee wore number 11, but last season swapped it for 9, a la Roberto Firmino.
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Joshua Zirkzee wore number 21 for the Netherlands at Euro 2024 (Image credit: Getty Images)
Zirzkee has worn 9, 10 and 11 for the Dutch under-21s (as well as #20), while at Euro 2024, he was allocated the number 21 shirt.
If we had to guess, then, we dare say he would quite like to have the number 9 shirt at Manchester United, which happily is currently vacant following Anthony Martial's departure from the club.
Not many of the other numbers he has worn in the past are available: Jonny Evans has 35, Luke Shaw has 23, Antony has 21, Christian Eriksen wears 14, Rasmus Hojlund bears the number 11 and Marcus Rashford has 10 nailed down.
Antony Martial gave up the number 9 shirt to Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but later got it back
Previous Manchester United number 9s include Sir Bobby Charlton (who also wore 10), Andy Cole, Dimitar Berbatov and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Martial was actually in his second spell as United's number 9, having previously given it up to Ibrahimovic, who passed it on to Romelu Lukaku upon his departure in 2017.
Steven Chicken has been working as a football writer since 2009, taking in stints with Football365 and the Huddersfield Examiner. Steven still covers Huddersfield Town home and away for his own publication, WeAreTerriers.com. Steven is a two-time nominee for Regional Journalist of the Year at the prestigious British Sports Journalism Awards, making the shortlist in 2020 and 2023.
