Arsenal’s 2026/27 squad first began to take shape with the announcement of its new shirt numbers.
The list includes the numbers of newly arrived players, vacancies left by departed players, and the numbers of existing key players.
However, this official list is not the same as the starting combinations and squad-depth assessments outlined by the media.
3-Line Summary
1. Arsenal has revealed its 2026/27 shirt numbers
2. Guimarães wears number 39, while Tzolis wears number 17
3. Projected lineups are not the official squad list
The personal number Guimarães chose as 39
Arsenal announced its 2026/27 season shirt numbers, revealing the squad’s number assignments. Bruno Guimarães will wear the number 39 shirt. The club explained that he has chosen this number throughout his playing career as a tribute to the vehicle number of his father, who drove a taxi in Brazil. It shows that a number itself can carry a player’s personal story beyond being a simple allocation list.
Christos Tzolis chose number 17. Arsenal introduced the number by noting that it was previously worn by Oleksandr Zinchenko and became widely known when worn by Alexis Sánchez and Emmanuel Petit. That history does not determine Tzolis’s role or playing time, however. What the club confirmed was the number assignment; how it will be used in matches is a separate matter.
Goalkeeper Illan Meslier has been assigned number 30. According to the club announcement, Raheem Sterling wore number 30 during the 2024/25 season, while Eddie Nketiah and Yossi Benayoun wore it before him. In announcing the new player’s number, Arsenal also listed the players who had previously worn it, emphasizing the history carried forward by the shirt number.
Confirmed assignments from number 1 through 49
The official list gives the goalkeepers’ numbers as David Raya 1, Kepa Arrizabalaga 13, Meslier 30, and Tommy Setford 35. The defense includes William Saliba 2, Christian Mosquera 3, Ben White 4, Piero Hincapié 5, and Gabriel 6. Jurriën Timber 12, Riccardo Calafiori 33, and Myles Lewis-Skelly 49 also have confirmed official shirt numbers.
Among the attacking and midfield players, the list includes Bukayo Saka 7, Martin Ødegaard 8, Gabriel Jesus 9, Eberechi Eze 10, and Gabriel Martinelli 11. Viktor Gyökeres 14, Noni Madueke 20, Fábio Vieira 21, Ethan Nwaneri 22, Mikel Merino 23, and Reiss Nelson 24 are also on the list.
Kai Havertz 29, Martín Zubimendi 36, and Declan Rice 41 have also been assigned numbers. This list is a reference for confirming who wears which number. It is difficult to interpret it as a ranking that also indicates a player’s starting status, the relative strength of positional competition, or their actual number of appearances during the season.
Numbers 15, 16, 18, and 19 remain vacant
Arsenal said that 15, 16, and 19 became vacant after Jakub Kiwior, Christian Nørgaard, and Leandro Trossard left. Number 18 is also vacant. The club added that numbers 25 through 28 had also been available for use during the past few seasons.
Vacant numbers officially confirm that there have been changes to the squad. However, the vacancies alone cannot establish that a specific player is arriving or that a contract has ended. Arsenal’s wording only indicates that there are numbers available to be chosen if a new player joins before the transfer window closes. The fact that a number is vacant and the fact that a new signing has been confirmed must clearly be distinguished.
The two 11-player combinations are media assessments
LiveScore assessed that Arsenal could form two different 11-player teams, placing Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, and Calafiori, along with Ødegaard, Guimarães, and Rice, in one combination. In the other, it placed Kepa, White, Mosquera, Hincapié, and Lewis-Skelly, along with Eze, Zubimendi, and Merino. This is a media assessment of the squad’s depth, not a starting lineup announced by the club.
In the same article, Mikel Arteta, Arsenal’s manager, said that he had been calling for the Premier League to increase the size of matchday squads. He said this in the context of wanting players to have the opportunity to take the field and contribute to the team. That statement represents a position favoring an expansion of the rules, however, and is not an announcement that a rule change has been decided.
A projection published by Yahoo Sports used a 4-3-3 formation and included Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, and Calafiori, along with Ødegaard, Guimarães, and Rice, in its projected combination. The article also projected competition for appearances between Havertz and Gyökeres, as well as the recovery situations of Rice and Saliba. The official shirt-number announcement is confirmed squad-list information, while projected lineups and assessments of how the season will be managed are observations presented by the media. This is the clearest distinction in this squad update.
References
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