It’s official: Raheem Sterling is a Chelsea player.
The Blues landed the striker from Man City for £50million on a five-year deal and he becomes the first signing of the Todd Boehly era at Stamford Bridge.
After passing a medical in London, Sterling flew to Los Angeles to be announced as a Chelsea player and join his new teammates.
Attention now turns to the shirt number he will don during his time at Stamford Bridge, with several favorable numbers for the forwards already taken.
Sterling previously wore number seven at Man City but that is unavailable – unless changed – as N’Golo Kante is the current starter. The former Liverpool starlet wore 31 during his time at Anfield.
In terms of other striker-friendly numbers, Timo Werner wears 11 and Christian Pulisic is number 10 at Chelsea – Sterling’s preferred number internationally.
However, there are a few free squad numbers he might like…
While there are plenty available, the most realistic a new first-team signing could take are…
Nine or 17 shirts seem the most likely bets, with the supposedly cursed former number released when Romelu Lukaku returned to Inter on loan earlier in the window.
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