Oleksandr Zinchenko changes Arsenal shirt number

Arsenal have confirmed that left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko will wear the number 17 shirt this coming season.

Zinchenko wore 35 for the first three seasons of his Arsenal career, having been handed the same shirt during his time at Manchester City. But, at international level, he has almost exclusively worn 17.

That jersey had belonged to Cedric Soares for the last five years, but the right-back's departure at the start of this summer has allowed Zinchenko to climb up to his preferred number.

"The number 17 is a very special number to me," he told club media. "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."

The 17 shirt is not one with a rich history at Arsenal. First claimed by Danish midfielder John Jensen in 1992, it would also be worn by both David Hillier and Emmanuel Petit before the turn of the century.

Current sporting director Edu Gaspar took the 17 shirt in 2000 and kept it up until his departure to Valencia in 2005, after which Alex Song made it his own for seven years.

Nacho Monreal and Alexis Sanchez wore the shirt for two seasons each between 2012 and 2016, before Alex Iwobi went one step further and held on to it for three years. Cedric then took it in 2019.

Zinchenko has not worn the 17 at club level since his senior breakthrough in Russia with FC Ufa in 2015.

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