It’s all part of the pre-season excitement. The Everton signing holds up the famous royal blue shirt and then his brand new squad number is revealed ahead of the big Premier League kick-off.
For some, it’s no big deal, for others a shirt number is packed with superstition or great personal meaning and in Blues history, well, the number nine shirt holds great significance.
On Tuesday, Andros Townsend became the first signing of the Rafa Benitez era at Goodison Park and Asmir Begovic is expected to join too.
With new players, they will need to select squad numbers, and there are a fair amount of vacancies at present so which could Townsend take?
Well, at the start of his career, the new Everton winger was handed the number 31 jersey at Tottenham and wore a variety of numbers during a massive nine loan spells away from White Hart Lane.
Before leaving north London, Townsend worked his way up from squad number 17 to 7 but then took the number 25 shirt at Newcastle in 2015. At Crystal Palace, he returned to 17 but later wore the number 10 jersey for five seasons.
Now though, new club means new digits for Townsend as all of those former shirt numbers are unavailable at Goodison Park right now.
So, which could he go for? Well, as a winger with a sweet left foot, he may take the traditional route and go for the number 11 shirt which he wore at Birmingham during a temporary spell in 2012.
The number 15 is another Townsend could go for, while 28, 29 and 30 are also up for grabs.
Alternatively, if he wanted to go for something quirky, he could take Leighton Baines old number three shirt, though it is a number usually reserved for defenders, primarily left-backs, according to the unofficial football shirt rule book us fans keep in our head.
And what about any other new signings who follow Townsend through the Goodison Park exit?
Well, if Jonjoe Kenny is transferred away from Everton this summer, the number two shirt will be available while Bernard’s number 20 will also be on offer should the Brazilian complete a move as reported by the ECHO last week.
Whichever strip Townsend decides to take, the number most important come May will be Everton’s league standing but in the build-up, there’s nothing like the squad list being filled with new faces.
Do you want an exclusive pre-season Everton preview - both in your inbox and through your letterbox? Head over here to find out more and secure your copy.
