Arsenal have confirmed the shirt number for summer signing Noni Madueke.
Madueke joins Arsenal from London rivals Chelsea in a deal that could be worth up to £52m if certain add-ons are met. The winger becomes the club’s fourth signing of the window following on from Martin Zubimendi, Kepa Arrizabalaga and Christian Norgaard.
Capable of operating on either flank, the 23-year-old will provide much-needed attacking depth at the Emirates Stadium and offers competition to Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard.
Now, it has been announced that Madueke will wear the No20 for the Gunners. This shirt number hasn’t been vacant for long as Jorginho wore it prior to joining Flamengo ahead of the Club World Cup earlier in the summer.
Nuno Tavares, Shkodran Mustafi, Mathieu Flamini, Johan Djourou, Philippe Senderos and Matthew Upson are among the previous owners of the Arsenal No20 shirt in the Premier League era.
Throughout his senior career, Madueke has worn a variety of squad numbers. Starting out at PSV Eindhoven, in the 2020/21 campaign he wore No23 and stuck with that for two seasons before upgrading to No10 permanently.
Though the change was short-lived as he moved to Chelsea halfway through the 2022/23 season and upon joining the Blues he was given No31 before switching to No11 ahead of the 2023/24 campaign.
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Meanwhile, for the England national team, Madueke has worn No23 and No19.
Madueke becomes the latest player to move directly between Chelsea and Arsenal.
Despite being London rivals, the Gunners have shown a willingness to conduct business with the Blues over the years. In the Premier League era alone, nine other senior players have swapped Stamford Bridge for the Emirates Stadium.
William Gallas was first to cross this particular divide 19 years ago and the trend has continued this summer with Arrizabalaga joining the Gunners in a £5m move to primarily act as an understudy to goalkeeper David Raya.
The Spaniard has been joined in N5 by Madueke after Arsenal struck an agreement with the Blues to sign the England international.