James Tarkowski will wear the number two shirt for Everton and becomes the ninth player to do so ever since squad numbers were introduced at the start of the 1993/94 season – the second year of the Premier League.
The 29-year-old had worn number five for Burnley for the past five seasons but that is already taken, ironically by his former Clarets centre-back partner Michael Keane, who Tarkowski, initially wearing 26 at Turf Moor, inherited the number from in 2017 when his team-mate moved to Goodison Park in a £25million transfer.
Although captain Seamus Coleman has been Everton’s first choice right-back for a number of years now, the Irishman has retained his original number 23 jersey for over a decade.
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Here’s a look back at the Blues previous number twos.
1993-95: Matt Jackson
A member of Everton’s FA Cup-winning ‘Dogs of War’ who defeated Manchester United 1-0 at Wembley, en route to the final, Jackson netted the winning goal at Bristol City in the fourth round and opening the scoring in the 4-1 rout of Tottenham Hotspur in the semi-final, played in his birthplace Leeds.
1995-1998: Earl Barrett
One of Joe Royle’s most-trusted lieutenants having been his captain at Oldham Athletic, Rochdale-born Barrett joined Everton from Aston Villa midway through the 1994/95 season but was cup-tied. He’s now a high-ranking youth football administrator in Texas.
1998-2000: Alec Cleland
Initially snapped up by Howard Kendall in an early Bosman-style free transfer, the three-times Everton manager had already left by the time he came south of the border from Rangers and while he was reunited with his former Ibrox boss Walter Smith at Goodison Park, injuries hampered his time at the Blues.
2000-05: Steve Watson
Although the shirt matched his principle position of right-back, the flame-haired Geordie was one of football’s great utility men and his versatility even saw him fill in as an emergency centre-forward on occasions for Everton while he famously scored a hat-trick in a 4-0 thrashing of Leeds United while playing on the right wing.
2007-2016: Tony Hibbert
A great club stalwart and the last of the old school of full-backs whose primary function was to defend, something reflected in the fact that his 328 appearances were the most for an outfield Everton player without ever finding the net. Blues fans always warned though that “Hibbo scores, we riot” - and they did, in a good-natured way, when he finally bagged one in his testimonial against AEK Athens in 2012.
2017-2018: Morgan Schneiderlin
Although a gifted French international, the £20million signing from Manchester United came to epitomise the expensive flops that have blighted Everton during the Farhad Moshiri era. The sitting midfielder quickly faded after a bright start and many fans never forgave him after reports of a training ground disciplinary incident under David Unsworth’s caretaker stewardship.
2018-2020: Mason Holgate
Perhaps reflecting his early outings as a right-back, the former Barnsley player wore the jersey for a couple of years but after increasingly being deployed in the centre of defence, the Yorkshireman has worn number four for the past couple of years.
2020-2022: Jonjoe Kenny
Home-grown hero Kenny grew up just a Jordan Pickford clearance from Goodison Park in Kirkdale but despite a recent revival under Frank Lampard and the offer of a new contract at Everton this summer he chose to embark on a fresh challenge in the Bundesliga with Hertha Berlin having previously played in Germany on loan at Schalke.
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