Arsenal explain why Leno has inherited Cazorla shirt number

Matt Stead

Arsenal have confirmed that Bernd Leno will wear the No. 19 shirt this season.

Leno joined Arsenal from Bayer Leverkusen for an initial £19million fee this summer, and is expected to replace Petr Cech as the club’s first-choice keeper.

The German completed his move on June 19, which the official Arsenal website says was the player’s reasoning for taking that shirt number.

‘Leno also made his first-team debut aged 19 while on loan at Bayer Leverkusen from Vfb Stuttgart,’ they added.

‘Let’s hope the number 19 brings more happy memories for Bernd this season.’

Leno inherits the shirt number from Santi Cazorla, who was released from his Arsenal contract this summer.

Previous wearers of the No 19 Arsenal shirt include Jack Wilshere, Gilberto Silva, Junichi Inamoto, Stefan Malz, Remi Garde and Chris Kiwomya.

They still have a few notable shirt numbers to fill, mind.