Chelsea have handed the 19 shirt to new signing Jadon Sancho for the 2024/25 season.
Sancho has signed for the Blues on loan from Manchester United – subject to certain undisclosed conditions being met, the deal will be permanent.
The winger’s move to Stamford Bridge was wrapped up shortly before the transfer deadline, although confirmation was not made public until almost 24 hours later.
With Sancho on the way, Chelsea have given him his team number for the upcoming campaign, and the England international has taken 19.
There is an unusual recent history of that number at Chelsea. He was actually assigned to fellow summer signing Pedro Neto following his switch from Wolves last month, and made his debut against Manchester City in that shirt.
However, Neto was soon converted to seven – robbed by Raheem Sterling, who has joined Arsenal on loan – and 19 were left empty again.
Neto had 19 removed from another player Chelsea considered surplus to requirements, while Armando Broja also lost his number before being loaned to Everton.
Before Broja, the 19-year-old was worn by school leaver Mason Mount, who left to join United in the summer of 2023 but is yet to recapture the form of his Chelsea days.
The likes of Diego Costa, Demba Ba, Paulo Ferreira, Lassana Diarra and Scott Parker also took 19 for the Blues in the Premier League’s era of permanent shirt numbers.
Sancho will not be fit to make his Chelsea debut against Crystal Palace on Sunday, but could feature in their trip to Bournemouth on the other side of the September international break.
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