Transfer Centre

Shirt numbers available to Jadon Sancho at Chelsea

By Barney Corkhill, Editor | 16 May 2020

Amid reports linking Jadon Sancho with a move to Chelsea, Sports Mole looks at what numbers would be available to the 20-year-old at Stamford Bridge.

The race for Jadon Sancho's signature continues to generate headlines, with just about every major European club having been linked with an interest in the Borussia Dortmund winger this summer.

Dortmund's rumoured asking price of £100m is expected to price most clubs out in the post-coronavirus market, but a return to the Premier League looks like his most likely option at this stage.

Manchester United are thought to be leading the race for his signature, but reports this week have suggested that Chelsea are considering a summer sale in order to raise funds for the 20-year-old.

Sancho reportedly favours a move to London, while Chelsea are in the market for a new winger with the contracts of Pedro and Willian due to expire at the end of this season.

Here, Sports Mole looks at what shirt numbers could be available to the England international at Stamford Bridge.

Borussia Dortmund winger Jadon Sancho pictured in February 2020

Sancho has worn the number seven shirt since breaking into the Dortmund first team, and reports have claimed that he has been promised that number at Old Trafford should he join Manchester United.

It is unlikely to be available at Stamford Bridge, though, with N'Golo Kante the current occupier; the Frenchman has been linked with a move away from Chelsea this summer, but manager Frank Lampard is expected to block any exit.

Sancho may therefore be forced to consider other shirt numbers, and the '10' and '11' jerseys would seem to be the most appealing of the potential options.

Both are currently taken, by Willian and Pedro respectively, but with both players out of contract this summer it is likely that at least one of them will leave, despite reports that Lampard is now trying to keep them.

If both were to stay at the club then the chances of them signing Sancho as well would fall, and so the most realistic scenario would appear to be Sancho inheriting the number of whichever veteran winger he replaces.

The Dortmund man has worn both numbers for England, as well as for Dortmund's youth team, and they would reflect his status in the team more accurately than the currently-vacant numbers '6', '14' and '16'.

> Click here to see how Chelsea could line up with Jadon Sancho