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Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sport
Andrew Headspeath

What Yan Diomande, New Signings Jersey Numbers Reveal About Real Madrid Plans

Real Madrid have announced their official shirt numbers for first-team players ahead of the new season, with club-record signing Yan Diomande handed the No. 25 jersey.

It has been a summer of change for Madrid, with re-elected president Florentino Pérez appointing José Mourinho as manager and making six first-team signings.

Bernardo Silva and Ibrahim Konaté joined as free agents upon expiry of their contracts at Manchester City and Liverpool respectively. Meanwhile, Marc Cucurella, Denzel Dumfries Carlos Espí and Diomande have arrived in deals totalling over €200 million ($230 million)—the club’s biggest single-window outlay since the summer of 2019.

With the new season just two weeks away, Madrid have now posted the official jersey numbers for 2026–27, revealing the digits the new recruits and everyone else will be wearing.


New Players Assigned Numbers for New Season

Marc Cucurella
Cucurella will wear the No.17 jersey. | Sebastian Frej/Getty Images

Konate has been handed 16, while Cucurella will wear number 17. Midfielder Silva takes the No. 20—the same number he wore for the duration of his time at Manchester City. Young forward Espí gets 19, while Dumfries will sport 24 and the club’s marquee arrival Diomande will play in the No. 25 jersey.

Diomande wore the 49 shirt at his former club RB Leipzig, a number not available for selection at Madrid with first-team registered players required to wear between 1–25 as per La Liga regulations. Players registered with the B team, Real Madrid Castilla, can wear higher numbers when featuring for the first team. As a result, Thiago Pitarch is named as the No.27 this season.

Diomande’s No.25 jersey does not have the most illustrious history at Real Madrid and was last worn by backup goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalga in 2023–24. However, established stars Eduardo Camavinga, Rodrgyo, Vinícius Júnior and Thibaut Courtois have all worn the number, briefly, for Los Blancos.


Numbers Suggest Transfer Business Is Complete

Raúl Asencio
Raúl Asencio has gained a more prominent number despite exit rumors. | Oscar J. Barroso/Europa Press/Getty Images

While most of the players who were at Real Madrid for the 2025–26 campaign have maintained their old numbers for the upcoming season, there have been a couple of changes.

Defender Raúl Asencio has taken the 2 jersey leaving behind his old 17 for Cucurella, while fellow center back Dean Huijsen will swap to No. 4 from 24.

The list of official numbers also appears to imply that Mourinho’s roster for the coming campaign is all-but complete. Every number from 1 to 25 is now occupied, meaning that a player would have to be unregistered in order to make space for a new first-team arrival.

There have been suggestions that the likes of Endrick (9) and Camavinga (6) could yet be moved on either permanently or on loan. However, previous reports that Asencio might leave appear less likely after he has been granted with a new higher-ranking number.


2026–27 Real Madrid First-Team Jersey Numbers

Player Position Number
Thibaut Courtois GK 1
Andriy Lunin GK 13
Raúl Asencio DF 2
Éder Militão DF 3
Dean Huijsen DF 4
Trent Alexander-Arnold DF 12
Ibrahima Konaté DF 16
Marc Cucurella DF 17
Álvaro Carreras DF 18
Antonio Rüdiger DF 22
Ferland Mendy DF 23
Denzel Dumfries DF 24
Jude Bellingham MF 5
Eduardo Camavinga MF 6
Federico Valverde MF 8
Aurélien Tchouaméni MF 14
Arda Güler MF 15
Bernardo Silva MF 20
Vinícius Júnior FW 7
Endrick FW 9
Kylian Mbappé FW 10
Rodrygo FW 11
Carlos Espí FW 19
Brahim Díaz FW 21

READ THE LATEST REAL MADRID NEWS, ANALYSIS AND INSIGHT FROM SI FC

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