There are some questions lingering about the shirt numbers that Kylian Mbappe and Endrick will wear from the upcoming campaign.
The no. 7 shirt, which Mbappe wore at PSG, is occupied by Vinicius Jr, who is a Ballon d’Or contender this time around.
His next preference, the no. 10 shirt is already taken at Real Madrid by Luka Modric.
The veteran midfielder is reportedly set to stay with Los Blancos for at least one more season, which somewhat complicates things for the Frenchman.
The France captain is reportedly poised to inherit the no. 9 shirt at Real Madrid and will switch to 10 once Modric leaves.
Thie 9 shirt number has been vacant for the last year and was previously worn by Karim Benzema from 2010-2023.
Mbappe’s situation is very similar one encountered by Cristiano Ronaldo when he joined Los Blancos in 2009.
The Portuguese star had to wear the no. 9 shirt in his first season at Real Madrid as his preferred no.7 one was already taken by club legend Raul at the time.
Ronaldo would go onto inherit the no. 7 attire in the 2010/11 season and wear it until his departure in 2018.
Mbappe getting the no. 9 shirt is also quite symbolic because he’s likely to play in that centre-forward role for Carlo Ancelotti’s side going forward as Vinicius Jr has made that left-wing role his own.
While Mbappe seems to be getting quite a popular kit number at Real Madrid, Endrick is poised to be given a unique number for a centre-forward.
Once he arrives at the Santiago Bernabeu, the Brazilian forward is reportedly going to receive the no.16 shirt.
This number is actually considered a ‘curse’ among some Madridistas.
That is because the players to have been given this number over the last decade or so have seen their fortunes take the wrong turn. James Rodriguez was given this number in 2019 and left in 2020.
Borja Mayoral wore this in the 2020-21 season, only to be sold in 2022. Luka Jovic inherited this in 2021 and was offloaded in 2022. Alvaro Odriozola has been wearing it for the last few years and he might be sold this summer too.
Interestingly, Samuel Eto’o also wore this number for a short period for Real Madrid, before being sold in 2000. Raul had also wore this attire in the 1994/95 season.
If Endrick can end the ‘curse’ of this shirt number and get goal numbers in double figures, then perhaps the youngster will inherit the no.9 shirt once Mbappe claims the no.10 attire.
