The Man City shirt numbers available for Erling Haaland after agreeing move

Erling Haaland is set to join Manchester City on 1 July after the club activated his £51.1m release clause in his Borussia Dortmund contract.

The 21-year-old will be the second member of his family to wear the blue of City, with his dad Alf-Inge playing for the club between 2000 and 2003.

Erling has been a standout performer for Dortmund, scoring 86 goals in 89 appearances, since joining the Bundesliga side from RB Salzburg in 2020.

The Sky Blues have opted to operate with a false-nine this season after they failed to replace Sergio Aguero last summer.

Haaland’s arrival is likely to change Pep Guardiola’s tactical layout, with the Catalan expected to revert back to a traditional 4-3-3 formation and the 21-year-old play as a centre-forward.

The forward’s move comes with several questions, one of which is what shirt number will he wear when he is revealed as a City player this summer?

He currently wears the no.9 at Dortmund but this is occupied by Gabriel Jesus at the Etihad Stadium.

With that being said, we take a look at the available numbers for Haaland upon his arrival to the Etihad Stadium.

From 1-9

The number one shirt is currently up for grabs. Though traditionally associated with goalkeepers, it hasn’t stopped outfield players, most recently Edgar Davids during the 2013-14 season with Barnet.

The only other number below nine that is available is four. City fans will associate it with former captain Vincent Kompany, with the club yet to register a player with it since the Belgian left in 2019.

From 10-19

There are four numbers in this bracket that Haaland could choose/be given, they are; 12, 15, 18 and 19.

Of those numbers, 15 is the most likely to interest the forward, with Haaland’s dad wearing it while playing for the club, while he has worn 19 for Norway on several occasions.

From 20- 29

As like the previous bracket four numbers are available for the forward here, with 21, 24, 28 and 29 all free.

From 30-39

The larger the number, the more likely it is to be an option for Haaland and this is certainly the case here, with 30, 32, 34, 35, 36, 38 and 39 up for grabs.

In terms of whether any of these stand out to the Norwegian, he could opt for the no.30 shirt as that was what he wore during his time at Molde and RB Salzburg, while 32 is an option - this was worn by former forward Carlos Tevez.

40+

An array of numbers are free for Haaland to choose from/be given in this bracket. However, it is doubtful he will get one this high.

If the 21-year-old did want to make a statement, not just with his goal-scoring ability, but with his shirt, then he could follow in Yaya Toure’s footsteps with the no.42 shirt, or Mario Ballotelli’s with the no.45.

The reason why the number 23 hasn’t been listed is due to it being retired by the club following the death of on-loan midfielder Marc-Vivien Foe in 2003.