Petr Cech to wear the No 33 shirt at Arsenal: £11m Czech goalkeeper takes Nicklas Bendtner's old number

Because the spine has 33 vertebrae...

James Orr
Sunday 12 July 2015 13:48 BST
Comments
Petr Cech's Arsenal shirt
Petr Cech's Arsenal shirt (twitter.com/PetrCech)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Petr Cech's shirt number has been confirmed for Arsenal, and it's No 33.

The reasons for this, as the Czech goalkeeper has revealed, is because he is 33 years old, he has made 333 Premier League appearances and...because the spine has 33 vertebrae.

It means that Wojciech Szczesny, who started last season as Arsenal's first-choice 'keeper before losing his place to the Colombian David Ospina, will hold onto his No 1 shirt.

Ospina has been heavily linked with a move away from the Emirates this summer, with Everton the most recent side linked.

The last player to have the No 33 shirt at Arsenal was striker Benik Afobe in the 2011/12 season.

Cech signed for the Gunners from Chelsea for £11m last month.

He has been named in the 27-man Gunners' squad that will play in the two game Asia Trophy in Singapore.

Nicklas Bendtner in the No 33 shirt during the 2004/05 season
Nicklas Bendtner in the No 33 shirt during the 2004/05 season (GETTY IMAGES)

The Gunners are only away for around a week with a match against a Singapore Select XI on 15 July and then either a 'final' or third-place play-off on 18 July. They will then return to England in time to prepare for the Emirates Cup on 25-26 July.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in