Arsenal announced on Tuesday night that Oleksandr Zinchenko is trading the number 35 for 17, taking advantage of the spot vacated by Cedric Soares this summer.
Speaking to the club website, Zinchenko explained why he wanted to make the change.
“The number 17 is a very special number to me,” Zinchenko said. “It was the number I wore as a young player, and I’ve always requested to wear 17 when playing for my country.
“With 17 being free since Cedric left, I asked if I could change, and thanks to everyone at the club for supporting me.
“It’s also very important to say that if anyone has bought this season’s new shirt directly from the club with my name and 35 on it, they can get an exchange to my new number.”
As he points out, Zinchenko’s connection to the number 17 is obvious when you look at the Ukraine national team, for whom he’s worn the number consistently for the last eight seasons.
Yet at club level, the left-back hasn’t worn the number since he left FC Ufa in 2016.
Initially joining Manchester City, Zinchenko had no chance of wearing the number 17 ahead of Kevin De Bruyne. Nor could he have the number on loan with PSV Eindhoven in 2016/17, as Florian Jozefzoon already held it.
Zinchenko ultimately joined Arsenal, but once again, the number was already in use by Cedric. So after waiting eight seasons, this is the first time Zinchenko has seen the number 17 become available at his club team.
Arsenal fans are likely to get their first look at Zinchenko with his new number as the Gunners take on Bayer Leverkusen in a friendly at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night.
After that, how often we see the 27-year-old in his new shirt this season remains to be seen. Arsenal have plenty of options at left-back now, including new signing Riccardo Calafiori, so Zinchenko will need to fight for his place.