Harry Winks' days at Tottenham may be numbered as the club have hinted Yves Bissouma could inherit the number 8 shirt he occupies for the upcoming Premier League season.
Spurs have spent big this summer and have taken their total outlay to just north of £100million after completing the signings of Richarlison, Ivan Perisic, Bissouma, Fraser Forster and Djed Spence. They have also brought in Clement Lenglet on a season-long loan from Barcelona.
Ahead of the fast-approaching campaign, Spurs have announced the shirt numbers that their players will be wearing - but they have been keen to highlight that not every decision is set in stone.
Spence, Spurs’ newest arrival after joining from Middlesbrough in a deal worth up to £20m, will take the number 24 shirt, while Barcelona loanee Lenglet will wear the number 34.
Croatian international Perisic will take the number 14 shirt, with Welsh defender Joe Rodon vacating the jersey and moving to 22. Richarlison (9) and Forster (20) had their shirt numbers confirmed last week, alongside Cristian Romero (moved from 4 to 17), Pape Matar Sarr (29) and Oliver Skipp (4).
The hint over Winks' future relates to Bissouma's shirt shirt number, which may just be a stopgap. The Mali international joined Spurs from Brighton for £25million and, for now, will be the club’s number 38, although they have said this may not be Bissouma’s final number.
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It is likely that Bissouma will eventually inherit the number 8 shirt - which he occupied at the Amex Stadium - if Winks, who has been linked with interest from Everton, departs this summer. Unlike Rodon, Winks has not given up his shirt number, meaning it may take an official exit before Bissouma can take his preferred spot in the dressing room.
The Englishman has been left out of Spurs' pre-season tour as he is not part of Antonio Conte's plans. Up next for Spurs is a friendly against Scottish giants Rangers at Ibrox on Saturday. Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side ran out 3-1 winners over Tottenham’s rivals West Ham in a friendly on Tuesday night.
Spurs take on Rangers in their penultimate friendly of pre-season before facing Italian side Roma in Israel on Saturday, July 30.
Tottenham Hotspur's 2022/23 shirt numbers, so far
1 – Hugo Lloris
2 – Matt Doherty
3 – Sergio Reguilon
4 – Oliver Skipp
5 – Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg
6 – Davinson Sanchez
7 – Son Heung-min
8 – Harry Winks
9 – Richarlison
10 – Harry Kane
11 – Bryan Gil
12 – Emerson Royal
13 - Vacant
14 – Ivan Perisic
15 – Eric Dier
16 - Vacant
17 – Cristian Romero
18 – Giovani Lo Celso
19 – Ryan Sessegnon
20 – Fraser Forster
21 – Dejan Kulusevski
22 – Joe Rodon
23 – Vacant
24 – Djed Spence
25 – Japhet Tanganga
26 – Vacant
27 – Lucas Moura
28 – Tanguy Ndombele
29 – Pape Matar Sarr
30 – Rodrigo Bentancur
31 – Vacant
32 – Vacant
33 – Ben Davies
34 – Clement Lenglet
35 – Vacant
36 – Vacant
37 – Vacant
38 – Yves Bissouma
39 – Troy Parrott
40 – Brandon Austin
41-99 – Taken by youth players or vacant
