Arsenal have announced the No30 shirt will be worn by new signing Raheem Sterling.
The England winger, 29, joined on loan from Chelsea on transfer deadline day having been frozen out by the Gunners’ London rivals.
He will now hope to bolster Arsenal’s Premier League title hopes having watched the weekend draw against Brighton from the stands.
Standard Sport reported on Sterling joining up with his new team-mates for training on Monday, with two weeks until a potential debut against Tottenham. Having not been called up for international selection, he will spend time working under Mikel Arteta to get up to speed on his new team’s style of play.
New home. New number.
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) September 3, 2024
Shop Raheem Sterling’s shirt on Arsenal Direct now 🛍️
Arsenal were unable to give Sterling his usual No7 shirt, which he wore for both Manchester City and Chelsea, due to Bukayo Saka being that squad number’s incumbent.
But the No30 had recently been vacated by Matt Turner and the ex-Liverpool forward joins the list of its holders including Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Ryo Miyaichi and Yossi Benayoun.
Other options were available for Sterling, such as the No10, No14 and No21 shirts left by Emile Smith Rowe, Eddie Nketiah and Fabio Vieira after their recent moves. The No31 he donned at Anfield was also available.
Arsenal officially announced their new man’s squad number on Tuesday but had seemingly appeared to accidentally leak the shirt when announcing his signing, with a hastily-deleted link to buy Sterling’s No10 jersey on the official club website.