Arsenal news: Granit Xhaka changes his number already but club promise free shirt reprints for fans

Xhaka was unveiled along with the No 16 shirt but he has already switched to the No 29

Arsenal signing Granit Xhaka has changed his shirt number from 16 to 29 (Getty)

Arsenal have confirmed that any fan who bought a shirt with the name of new signing Granit Xhaka and his number on the back will get a free update – because he’s decided to change his number already.

The 23-year-old completed a move to Arsenal from Borussia Monchengladbach last month in a deal thought to be in the region of £30m, and with Francis Coquelin already holding the No 34 shirt he desires, Xhaka decided to take on the vacant No 16 shirt.

However, the Swiss international – who is now preparing for the Euro 2016 Championship with his national team –

has had a change of heart.

The club confirmed on Monday that Xhaka will now wear the No 29 shirt, and the player revealed that he’s made the decision because the number represents his birth year reversed, having been born in 1992.

The switch, which comes a week after he joined the club, is a potentially awkward one for Arsenal given that some fans will have already bought Xhaka shirts with his previous number on. But the club have moved quickly to ease fears that fans had wasted their money by confirming they will reprint shirts with Xhaka’s new number on the back.

Panic over.