Bernd Leno has taken the vacant number one shirt at Arsenal following Petr Cech’s retirement, as confirmed by the club shop website.

LEICESTER, ENGLAND - APRIL 28: Bernd Leno of Arsenal during the Premier League match between Leicester City and Arsenal FC at The King Power Stadium on April 28, 2019 in Leicester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
LEICESTER, ENGLAND – APRIL 28: Bernd Leno of Arsenal during the Premier League match between Leicester City and Arsenal FC at The King Power Stadium on April 28, 2019, in Leicester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)

Arsenal finally released the new Adidas Home Shirt for the 2019/20 season on Monday, and they had one number change surprise to spring on fans. Bernd Leno has parted with number 19 in order to take the number one shirt at the club:

Leno 1
Bernd Leno listed as number one on the Arsenal Direct website

Hopefully, the German fares a bit better than the previous owners of the shirt. From Almunia to Szczesny to Cech, the number has proved a bit of a curse in the Emirates Stadium era, so it’d be great to see Leno break it.

This is unlikely to be the last of the number changes this summer. The likes of Reiss Nelson (currently 61), Eddie Nketiah (49) and Joe Willock (59) could be set for first-team numbers if they don’t go out on loan.

Emi Martinez (26) could take Leno’s old number 19, or the vacant number 13, but that will probably have to wait until David Ospina confirms his departure to Napoli.

Numbers three, eight and 12 are also now available for existing players or new signings.