Liverpool have a new no.29 after Brazilian midfielder Arthur Melo signed for the club on deadline day.
Having worn the iconic no.8 shirt at Barcelona, before donning no.5 at Juventus, Arthur went for a more obscure number at Liverpool. As it turns out, the number is actually special one for the 26-year-old.
“The number 29 is special to me, it was my number at my first professional team Gremio. It brought me a lot of luck so maybe there’s an element of superstition around the number 29,” he said when speaking to liverpoolfc.com. “It’s a number that I really like, it brought me a lot of luck and hopefully it will do the same here at Liverpool.”
Unfortunately, Liverpool’s no.29 has not been a lucky one in days gone by, as the previous seven owners of the shirt will attest to. Here are their stories.
Young Liverpool strikers fail to fire in no.29
The number actually hasn’t been worn for Liverpool for over three years. That’s because the last incumbent of the not-so-famous shirt was current Bournemouth striker Dominic Solanke.
Solanke took the number having been signed from Chelsea in 2017. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out for him at Anfield. After just one goal for the club, he was sold to Bournemouth in January 2019. Now back in the Premier League, he’s excelling in the no.9.
Before Solanke, there had been another two year gap back to Italian forward Fabio Borini. If it were possible, Borini was even less successful than Solanke at Liverpool.
He may have scored three times as many in the no.29, but he was clearly never good enough for The Reds. Having bounced around in Sunderland and Milan, Borini now dons no.16 for Turkish club Fatih Karagumruk.
Going further back and we reach another of Liverpool’s lesser known former strikers. Young Hungarian Krisztian Nemeth had big things expected when he took the number in 2008. But over three years, he never managed a competitive appearance. Now thirty-three, he’s back home playing for MTK Budapest.
A special number after all?
When Nemeth took over the number in 2008, he did so from young defender Gabriel Paletta. Like Nemeth, a lot had been expected of the centre-back.
Just like Nemeth, he failed to make the grade. After eight games for Liverpool, his association with the club ended. Funnily enough though, his association with the no.29 did not.
Since leaving Liverpool, Paletta has carved out a decent career for himself. At all of the six clubs he’s represented in the intervening years, including at current club Monza, he’s worn the same number: 29. He even wore it when playing for Italy. Maybe it really is special after all.
Before Paletta, the number was worn even more rarely for Liverpool. Back-up ‘keeper Patrice Luzi wore it just once in 2004.
Luzi was the second goalie to take the shirt for Liverpool, after American stopper Brad Friedel. Friedel was the first in Liverpool’s history to take the no.29 shirt in 1997.
He went on to be an excellent Premier League goalkeeper, but he wasn’t at Liverpool. He played just 31 times over three years. No.1 suited him better, let’s be honest.
Sandwiched in-between the two goalies was right-back Stephen Wright. Wright was one of the better performers in the shirt, making 21 appearances in the early 2000’s after graduating from the academy.
So there you have it. Beat that, Arthur.
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