Liverpool FC have confirmed that Darwin Nunez is the Reds’ new number nine, switching shirt numbers a year into his LFC career.
Nunez arrived at Anfield as a club-record signing but his first season on Merseyside proved to be a hit-and-miss one
Though the Uruguayan scored 15 goals and laid on four assists in his 42 appearances, he ended the campaign out of favour and subject of public scrutiny from Jurgen Klopp.
The hope is that Nunez will return from his summer break more settled and with an improved grasp of English – and he is clearly confident of cementing himself.
Liverpool have confirmed that Nunez has now taken up the No. 9 shirt, last worn by Roberto Firmino prior to his exit this summer.
* Buy the new DARWIN NUNEZ 9 home kit at the official Liverpool FC store
Nunez previously wore the No. 27, but has moved quickly to switch numbers – having seemingly set his sights on it upon his arrival.
The 23-year-old wore the No. 9 at Benfica and his Instagram handle remained @darwin_n9, with it assumed that he chose the No. 27 as the two numbers add up to nine.
Beyond Firmino, the No. 9 shirt has been worn by a mixed bag of strikers in Liverpool’s recent history, including Christian Benteke, Rickie Lambert and Iago Aspas.
Aspas inherited the shirt from Andy Carroll, with its previous incumbents in the Premier League era being Fernando Torres, Robbie Fowler, Djibril Cisse, El Hadji Diouf, Nicolas Anelka and Ian Rush.
Despite its mixed recent lineage, it remains an iconic number in the history of Liverpool, with Rush, Fowler and Torres among the club’s greatest-ever strikers.
Nunez’s decision to change shirts will see the forward personally reimburse those who have already purchased his No. 27 shirt on the new 2023/24 kits – just like Luis Diaz
after his change to No. 7.
