Declan Rice shirt number at Arsenal: What jersey will he wear for Gunners?

Joel Sritharan

Declan Rice shirt number at Arsenal: What jersey will he wear for Gunners? image

Arsenal's pursuit of Declan Rice has finally been completed.

The Gunners announced the signing of the West Ham star on July 15 after their bird of up to £105 million / $132.7 million was accepted some days ago.

Mikel Arteta has sanctioned huge spending this summer to bolster his Arsenal squad. They have already signed Jurrien Timber from Ajax and Kai Havertz from Chelsea, which should help their depth as they prepare to compete in the Champions League for the first time since 2017.

The Sporting News looks at what number Rice will wear for Arsenal next season.

MORE: Have Arsenal signed any players? List of signings during 2023 summer window

Declan Rice shirt number at Arsenal

Arsenal confirmed that Rice will wear the No.41 shirt this season. It's the same number he has worn at West Ham in recent seasons.

In an interview with Gary Neville for The Overlap, Rice said: "To be honest with you I have been having these conversations with my dad, regardless of what happens in my career I may stay with 41."

The only single-digit number yet to be taken by an Arsenal player in the current squad is 2, but William Saliba could take the number as he is reportedly set to sign a new contract, with Jurrien Timber taking his old 12 jersey.

Declan Rice number in career

Rice broke into the West Ham senior team during the 2016/17 season and became the captain of the club after taking over from the retired Mark Noble.

During his days in the youth setup, Rice wore multiple jersey numbers including his current 41. It is, however, the only digits he has worn for the senior side.

Here are all the numbers worn by Rice at West Ham.

Squad Number Level
41 Senior team + Under-21
6 Under-21
5 Under-21
12 Under-21
16 Under-21
68 Under-18

Arsenal shirt numbers

Oleksandr Zinchenko held the previous the highest squad number at Arsenal, choosing 35 when he joined the Gunners in 2022. January 2023 signings Leandro Trossard and Jorginho chose 19 and 20 respectively while Jakub Kiwior wears 15.

Kai Havertz took No.26, while Jurrien Timer is the new 12, with William Saliba moving to 2.

Here are the Arsenal squad numbers heading into the 2023/24 season.

Player Number
Aaron Ramsdale 1
William Saliba 2
Kieran Tierney 3
Ben White 4
Thomas Partey 5
Gabriel Magalhaes 6
Bukayo Saka 7
Martin Odegaard 8
Gabriel Jesus 9
Emile Smith Rowe 10
Gabriel Martinelli 11
Jurrien Timber 12
Eddie Nketiah 14
Jakub Kiwior 15
Rob Holding 16
Takehiro Tomiyasu 18
Leandro Trossard 19
Jorginho 20
Fabio Vieira 21
Reiss Nelson 24
Mohamed Elneny 25
Folarin Balogun 26
Kai Havertz 29
Matt Turner 30
Karl Hein 31
Granit Xhaka 34
Oleksandr Zinchenko 35

Premier League 2023/24 TV channels, live streams

Region TV Streaming
Australia Optus Sport
Canada

Fubo Canada

Hong Kong Now TV
India Star Sports Disney+, Hotstar,
JioTV
Malaysia Astro SuperSport Astro Go
New Zealand Sky Sport Sky Sport Now,
Sky Go
Singapore StarHub StarHub TV+
UK Sky Sports, TNT Sports NOW TV, Sky Go,
Amazon Prime
USA USA Network,
Telemundo, Universo
Fubo, Peacock

UK: Matches are carried across Sky Sports and TNT Sports streaming and TV platforms, with select matches on Amazon Prime.

USA: Select matches are televised on USA Network (English) and Telemundo or Universo (Spanish), and all three channels can be streamed on Fubo. The rest of the matches are streamed on NBC platform Peacock for subscribers.

Canada: Every Premier League game this season is live streamed exclusively via Fubo in Canada.

Australia: Fans in Australia can stream every match live and on demand on Optus Sport.

India: Star Sports network has the rights to show Premier League matches in India. As well as an English broadcast on Star Sports Select, select matches will be available via regional feeds on Star Sports 3 (in Bengali, English, Kannada, Malayalam), Star Sports 1 (Bangla) and Star Sports 1 (Tamil).

Joel Sritharan

Joel Sritharan Photo

Joel Sritharan is a freelance writer for Sporting News UK.