Barcola takes 29 — and Van Dijk was first to greet him at Anfield
The new signing's shirt number is confirmed, and the club captain was waiting for him when he arrived.
Bradley Barcola will wear the No. 29 shirt at Liverpool, the club confirmed after completing his £123m move from Paris Saint-Germain.
Liverpool also published video and photographs of the forward’s arrival, in which Virgil van Dijk is the first member of the squad to greet him — the sort of choreography clubs stage deliberately, and which supporters read for meaning anyway.
The number
Twenty-nine is not a shirt with heavy history at Anfield, which is usually the point. A £123m signing arriving into a settled forward line has enough attached to him without inheriting somebody else’s number as well.
Barcola wore 29 for much of his time at Paris Saint-Germain before moving to 7 there, so it is also simply a number he knows.
Fitting in
He joins a forward line that already contains Alexander Isak, Cody Gakpo — who has just signed a new long-term contract — and Hugo Ekitike, whom Barcola says texted him during the negotiation. Making four expensive forwards function as one attack is now the job.
Shirt number, images and arrival details via Liverpool FC.
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