Liverpool has given Darwin Nunez the No. 9 shirt for the next season.
Nunez, who joined the club for £85 million in June 2022, wore the number 27 during his first season at Anfield.
Jurgen Klopp has given the 24-year-old Uruguayan a big vote of confidence by allowing him to wear the legendary No 9 shirt alongside Roberto Firmino, Fernando Torres, and Robbie Fowler.
He chose to fill the vacancy created by Firmino, who left Liverpool after his contract expired and joined Saudi Arabian side Al-Ahli on a free transfer.
‘I’m extremely thrilled to wear No. 9, and I’m also quite proud,’ Nunez added. ‘To be honest, other players represented this number really well previously, and now it is my turn to wear it.
Liverpool has given Darwin Nunez a new shirt number ahead of the upcoming season.
Nunez has promised to personally compensate fans who purchased new Liverpool shirts with his previous number.
After joining Liverpool for £85 million, the Uruguayan wore number 27 in his debut season.
‘I’m hoping everything goes smoothly. I hope I’m able to represent it as well as the past players did.
‘I hope this lasts for a long time and provides you a lot of joy.’
According to the club, Nunez will ‘personally reimburse’ fans who purchased Liverpool’s home and away shirts for the 2023-24 season with a like-for-like exchange.
Fans who have already purchased new 2023-24 home and away jerseys printed with the name ‘Darwin’ and the number ’27’ will be individually paid by Nunez with a like-for-like swap for a ‘Darwin 9’ shirt, according to Liverpool.
‘Any ‘Darwin 27’ shirts and equipment exchanged will be kept by the club and donated to the LFC Foundation.
Nunez, who scored 15 goals in 42 appearances in his debut season at Anfield, will be trying to outperform some of the great players who have worn the No 9 jersey at Liverpool.
While Firmino, Torres, and Fowler are all regarded club icons, other players who have worn the jersey include Andy Carroll, Iago Aspas, and Christian Benteke.
El-Hadji Diouf also wore No. 9 and lasted a whole season without scoring a goal while wearing the iconic number.
Roberto Firmino of Brazil previously wore the No. 9 shirt for Liverpool.
On Saturday, Nunez was among the players that returned to the club for pre-season training.
The forward was photographed with his teammates as they reported back for the start of the new season.
Liverpool competes in the Bundesliga. Next Wednesday, they will play Karlsruher in their first pre-season friendly before traveling to Singapore to face Leicester City and Bayern Munich.