Man City shirt numbers available for Mateo Kovacic - including favourite from Chelsea & Croatia

Manchester City are expected to announce the signing of Mateo Kovacic from Chelsea soon, and the transfer could even be confirmed before the end of the week.

The player agreed personal terms with the treble winners weeks ago and it was just a case of the clubs finalising a transfer fee. But the Italian journalist tweeted on Wednesday claiming that an initial price of £25m had been finalised, which could rise by a further £5m dependent on the team’s success in the coming years.

Kovacic’s arrival will bolster Pep Guardiola’s midfield options and, when the deal is finally confirmed, fans will be eagerly looking out for which number the Croatian is handed. There is also no shortage of options with several prime jerseys available.

No.1 is surprisingly free, although Kovacic won’t take the shirt number assigned to goalkeepers. He may, however, be tempted by the vacant no.11, which was last worn by Oleksandr Zinchenko. Twelve is also free should Kovacic wish, as is 15, a jersey no City player has claimed since 2019. 

Other popular numbers for the signing to choose from include 22, 24, 27, 28, 29 and 30. Kovacic’s first shirt at Inter Milan was 29 and, now aged 29, he may opt to select it again.

At Chelsea, Kovacic wears eight, and that shirt number is expected to become free any day now, with Ilkay Gundogan’s departure to Barcelona set to be confirmed. After initially wearing 17 at Stamford Bridge, Kovacic chose the no.8 jersey, as he has for the national side and his first club, Dinamo Zagreb.

At Inter, the centre-midfielder had 29 and then 10, with Jack Grealish the current occupant of the latter at City. Meanwhile, for Real Madrid, 16 and 23 were his squad numbers, neither of which are available at City with 16 held by Rodri and 23 retired in honour of the late Marc-Viven Foe.

There’s also a strong possibility that no.7 will be on offer if Joao Cancelo departs City, the same with 13 (Zack Steffen) and 14 (Aymeric Laporte). Current members of Guardiola’s squad could also claim the shirts which are currently free, with Cancelo selecting seven after Raheem Sterling left last summer.

Available shirts: 1, 11, 12, 15,  22, 24, 27, 28, 29, 30.