Arsenal provide update on Viktor Gyokeres shirt number ahead of Chelsea clash
Amid speculations of him taking a new shirt number, Arsenal have confirmed Viktor Gyokeres will continue wearing the No.14 shirt rather than switching to the now-vacant No.9 following Gabriel Jesus’s departure to Barcelona.
Viktor Gyokeres will not be changing his shirt number at Arsenal, despite growing chatter that he might switch to the No.9 following Gabriel Jesus’s summer move to Barcelona in a deal reportedly worth close to £13million with add-ons and a sell-on clause attached.
The north Londoners had already locked in their squad numbers for the 2026-27 campaign on August 18, days before the Coventry fixture, meaning the Sweden international remains tied to No.14.
It is the number he took on arrival from Sporting CP last year in a deal worth around £64million, choosing it specifically because his preferred No.9 was then occupied by Jesus and because, in his own words at the time, there simply weren’t many other numbers left to pick from.
The decision also saw him inherit the shirt long associated with club legend Thierry Henry, something Gyokeres has always been careful to play down rather than lean into.
The theory linking his shirt number to his lack of game time so far this season was also addressed indirectly by Mikel Arteta, who, discussing his unused substitutes after the win over Aston Villa, pointed instead to fitness management across the squad.
“Sometimes you have certain issues with players physically that you have to make changes and I’m sure there are going to be minutes for everybody,” Arteta said.
With the No.9 now sitting vacant for the first time since Jesus’s arrival, attention will likely turn to whether Arsenal hand it to a future signing or leave it unclaimed for the campaign.
