Phil Foden’s rise from spectacular boy wonder to Manchester City superstar has been as impressive as it has been swift.
The Stockport-born master was quickly identified as a generational talent by Pep Guardiola, who subsequently turned Foden into one of the world’s most devastating attacking midfielders. The 2023/24 campaign in which he won the Premier League Player of the Season saw his stock rise even further.
The England international quickly became synonymous with number 47, the shirt number he has worn since breaking into the first team at the Etihad Stadium. Despite offering more orthodox and prestigious numbers in recent years, Foden has remained true to his innovative number.
Unlike some of his compatriots who wear lesser known numbers to the Premier Leaguethere is significant meaning behind Foden’s decision to adopt the number 47.
There is a touching reason behind it the footthe decision to wear his now iconic jersey number. It stems from the death of his grandfather, Ronnie, who died aged 47, with Foden now wearing the number 47 to pay tribute.
It has previously been revealed that Foden was offered the chance to inherit Sergio Aguero’s number 10 shirt after the Argentine forward left the club at the end of the 2020/21 campaign. However, Foden turned down the opportunity in favor of retaining the number 47.
Speaking about the decision, Foden admitted: “I thought about it. The ten shirt is such a big number at the club, but I only have one thing with 47. I’d like to create my own legacy and keep that number.”
Foden has worn the number 47 since making his Man City debut in November 2017 and it seems unlikely he will ever part with his favorite shirt number, especially since he got the number 47 tattooed on the right side of his neck in 2023.
Foden already had a ‘sky’s the limit’ tattoo on the other side of his neck, which he had done by London-based tattoo artist Gabriel Maniak in February 2022.
|
team |
numbers used |
|---|---|
|
Man City |
47 |
|
England |
7, 8, 10, 11, 19, 20, 21 |
|
Man City U23 |
10, 47 |
|
Man City U19 |
10, 16, 17 |
|
Man City U18 |
7, 10, 80 |
|
England U21 |
10 |
|
England U19 |
16 |
|
England U17 |
7 |
|
England U16 |
15 |
Foden isn’t the only England international to adopt his first number, with Trent Alexander-Arnold still wearing the number 66 shirt he was randomly assigned while in Liverpool’s academy. Similarly, Declan Rice’s number 41 was the midfielder’s first number and he retained it when he moved from West Ham United to Arsenal in 2023.
David Beckham was another Englishman who became synonymous with shirt numbers, with number 7 and number 23 worn by the superstar over the years. After leaving Manchester United to join Real Madrid, Beckham adopted the number 23 because of his admiration for basketball legend Michael Jordan. He also wore the number at LA Galaxy before reverting to number 32 during spells with AC Milan and Paris Saint-Germain.
Shirt numbers are often less consistent in Italian football and this was highlighted by Brazilian legend Ronaldo. Unable to get his favorite number 9 shirt in Milan, he proceeded to grab the number 99 shirt. What’s better than a new one? Two nine, of course.
It was a similar story for Ivan Zamorano at Inter. The arrival of Roberto Baggio at the club forced the aforementioned Ronaldo to give up his number 10 shirt and instead adopt the number 9 formerly worn by Zamorano. The Chilean striker refused to accept defeat, however, wearing the number 18 but placing a plus symbol between the one and eight to create a unique number 9 shirt.
