Joe Gomez has vacated his long-serving No. 12 shirt ahead of the 2022/23 season, with the 25-year-old offering to reimburse fans after changing to a new number.
Gomez has worn the No. 12 since his £3.5 million move from Charlton in 2015, making 142 appearances in the shirt over seven seasons.
But after signing a new five-year contract with Liverpool earlier this summer, the centre-back has now taken a new squad number.
He will now wear the No. 2 last worn by Nathaniel Clyne.
Other previous incumbents include Glen Johnson, Andrea Dossena, Alvaro Arbeloa, Jan Kromkamp and Stephen Warnock, with the number traditionally worn by full-backs.
The club have announced that supporters who already purchased ‘Gomez 12’ shirts for the new season will be personally reimbursed by the player.
Those supporters can swap those shirts for a ‘Gomez 2’ shirt at official LFC club stores.
Since squad numbers became a thing, the 3 outfield players with the most apps for #LFC without ever scoring have now all worn #2 for the club:
Rob Jones – 243 apps, 0 goals
Stephane Henchoz – 205 apps, 0 goals
Joe Gomez – 142 apps, 0 goals.Would love Gomez to end that! https://t.co/mImiMYSDO6
— Michael Reid (@michael_reid11) July 29, 2022
Remarkably, according to Opta’s Michael Reid, the three outfield players with the most appearances without ever scoring for Liverpool since squad numbers began all wore the No. 2 shirt.
Gomez (141) joins Stephane Henchoz (205) and Rob Jones (243) in the top three.
The call to swap squad numbers follows a similar decision by Harvey Elliott heading into the new campaign, with the 19-year-old taking the No. 19.
Gomez’s switch could please the anoraks among the Liverpool support, with only one shirt number from the traditional 1-11 now vacant.
The No. 10 is still to be filled following Sadio Mane‘s summer move to Bayern Munich.
