Bradley Barcola to wear bizarre unused shirt number at Liverpool

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Mohamed Salah’s No11 could be an appealing symbolic option, having been left vacant following his move to Trabzonspor at the conclusion of last season.

Numbers 13, 16, 17, 24, 26 and 27 are also currently unoccupied, giving Barcola the opportunity to follow the tradition of selecting one of the lower available numbers.

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However, the French winger is expected to favour No29, the number he initially wore at the Parc des Princes.

There is an unusual and personal reason why the number holds such significance for Barcola, and it can be traced back to his passion for the Fifa (now EA FC) video game series.

More specifically, the game’s “the journey” mode, which follows fictional young footballer Alex Hunter, played a major role in his attachment to the number.

Barcola once revealed: “When I was younger, I used to play FIFA. In the story mode with Alex Hunter, this number became symbolic for me.

“I thought to myself: ‘The day I go pro, it’ll be number 29.’ And here I am, I adopted it, and now I’ll never let it go.”

Fabio Borini and Dominic Solanke are among the players who have previously worn No29 for Liverpool, although the shirt has remained unoccupied since Arthur Melo departed the club during the 2022/23 campaign.