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Chelsea have finalized their squad numbers for the 2015/16 Premier League season, announced on their official website. After making a number of new signings this summer, fans were waiting to see what numbers the new arrivals would pick.
Asmir Begovic has already played with the #1 shirt, forced to come on in the first match itself when first-choice goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was sent off against Swansea at Stamford Bridge. Courtois chose to continue with the #13 shirt even after Blues legend Petr Cech completed a move to Arsenal.
Chelsea’s new defensive signing, 21-year-old left-back Baba Rahman, will wear the #6 shirt. The Ghanian defender comes to Chelsea with a lot of talent and potential, and he could force Jose Mourinho to make changes in the full-back roles.
Colombian forward Radamel Falcao, who signed for Chelsea on a season-long loan deal from AS Monaco, will wear the #9 shirt. The shirt has been seen as a curse in the past few years with players like Fernando Torres and Franco Di Santo failing to live up to expectations after Chelsea legend Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink made the shirt his own.
New star signing Pedro finally signed for Chelsea from Barcelona and the forward will wear the #17 shirt. It was previously worn by last season’s PFA Player of the Year Eden Hazard who switched to the #10 shirt last season.
Meanwhile, Victor Moses is still in the squad although he looks to be out of favour with competition in the form of Pedro, Willian and Juan Cuadrado. He will wear #20 this season – the same number he wore earlier in pre-season. He had worn the #13 shirt in previous seasons, but Courtois took that shirt last season.
Chelsea squad and shirt numbers
1 – Asmir Begovic2 – Branislav Ivanovic4 – Cesc Fabregas5 – Kurt Zouma6 - Baba Rahman7 – Ramires8 – Oscar9 – Radamel Falcao10 – Eden Hazard11 – Juan Cuadrado12 – John Mikel Obi13 – Thibaut Courtois14 – Bertrand Traore17 – Pedro18 – Loic Remy19 – Diego Costa20 – Victor Moses21 – Nemanja Matic22 – Willian24 – Gary Cahill26 – John Terry27 – Jamal Blackman28 – Cesar Azpilicueta29 – Nathaniel Chalobah34 – Ola Aina35 – Dominic Solanke36 – Ruben Loftus-Cheek37 – Jake Clarke-Salter
Chelsea also revealed the third kit – a black Adidas kit – for the 2015/16 season.
