Martin Zubimendi’s name has dominated the agenda for Liverpool fans over the past 24 hours, and it looks increasingly likely that he could become our first signing of this summer’s transfer window.
There are still a few stages to progress before we can expect to see an official announcement from the club, but there’s been a few very encouraging portents to suggest that a deal will materialise.
Real Sociedad won’t stand in the player’s way if he wishes to leave, and they’re braced for him to accept an offer from Merseyside (David Ornstein), while Noticias de Gipuzkoa claimed that the Reds are willing and able to pay the midfielder’s £51.7m relase clause in full straight away.
If all goes to plan and Liverpool get Zubimendi through the door, thoughts will then turn to how the 25-year-old will integrate within Arne Slot’s side…and what number will accompany his name on the back of numerous fans’ shirts if, as is often the case with new arrivals, there’s a flurry of demand for that particular printing job.
Let’s have a look at the options which are currently available to the Spaniard if he comes through the door at Anfield.
Follow Empire of the Kop on Instagram (@empireofthekop) HERE
One obvious contender
In modern football parlance, the defensive midfield position that Zubimendi plays is known in shorthand as the ‘number 6’ role. As luck would have it, that’s the only digit between 1 and 11 which is currently vacant in the men’s senior squad at Liverpool.
Coincidentally, it was freed up by another classy Spanish midfielder in Thiago Alcantara, who departed Merseyside at the end of last season.
Right now, that’d appear to be the obvious choice for the 25-year-old if he completes his proposed move to Anfield. Neither his current number at Real Sociedad (4), nor the one he wore in Spain’s Euro 2024 triumph (18), are free for him at LFC, with those digits occupied by Virgil van Dijk and Cody Gakpo respectively.
Other options available
Should Zubimendi decide against taking Thiago’s old shirt number – possibly due to fears of a direct comparison – there’s no shortage of other options available to him at Liverpool.
Numbers 12 to 16 are all currently free for new arrivals, and the Spaniard wore both 14 and 15 when he was a teenager in Real Sociedad’s B team. The #36 that he adorned when he broke through to the senior side at the Anoeta is also vacant at Anfield (as is every number from 29 to 37).
Without straying into the high numbers which are usually handed to academy players who are taking their earliest steps with the first team, everything from 22 to 25 is available for him at LFC, along with the number 27 that Darwin Nunez had in his debut campaign for us (and Divock Origi prior to that).
We hope that it won’t be too long more before we see the Euro 2024 winner holding up a Liverpool shirt at Anfield with his name on the back, having just become the first signing of the Arne Slot/Richard Hughes era!
EOTK Close-up with John Welsh: ‘a local lad who lived his dream’ and Slot’s LFC predictions
