LIVERPOOL unveiled their marquee signing of the summer earlier this week in Bradley Barcola from PSG, but fans are wondering why the Frenchman wears an unusual shirt number.
After winning back-to-back Champions League titles in the French capital, Barcola has left Luis Enrique’s side for a dizzying fee of £123million.
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The winger is the third most expensive signing in Premier League history behind teammate Alexander Isak and Manchester City’s deadline day signing of Enzo Fernandez, who were both bought for £125million.
The transfer took Liverpool‘s summer spending up to £224million, of which £219million is net spend.
Barcola joins a frontline alongside Isak, Cody Gakpo and fellow new-boy Victor Munoz, who was signed from Osasuna for £34.5million – the Spaniard scored his first goal for the Reds in a 2-2 draw against Nottingham Forest.
On his unveiling, Barcola was wearing the unusual number 29 shirt, and SunSport has all the information on why.
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Why does new Liverpool signing Bradley Barcola wear the number 29 shirt?
Despite having a number of conventional shirt numbers to choose from, including Mohamed Salah‘s 11 shirt, Barcola has opted to wear the number 29.
He donned the same number at PSG, and there is a bizarre reason as to why he wears it, stemming from his love for Fifa (now EA FC) video game franchise.
Specifically, it was the series’ “the journey” story mode, featuring fictional rising star Alex Hunter, that left a mark on the Frenchman.
Barcola previously explained: “When I was younger, I used to play FIFA. In the story mode with Alex Hunter, this number became symbolic for me.
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“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.”
Previous No29s at Anfield include Fabio Borini and Dominic Solanke, but it has been vacant since Arthur Melo left the club during the 2022/23 season.
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