Chelsea confirm Cole Palmer squad number change ahead of Club World Cup | OneFootball

Blues talisman set to debut new shirt in tournament opener against Los Angeles FC in Atlanta on June 16

Cole Palmer has opted for a new shirt number at Chelsea this summer.

The England forward has worn No20 ever since moving to Stamford Bridge from Premier League rivals Manchester City in a £40million deal two summers ago, quickly becoming a pivotal figure in west London.

However, Chelsea have now confirmed that Palmer will move to No10 ahead of next season, beginning at the Club World Cup in the United States this month.

The Blues kick off the inaugural 32-team expanded summer tournament against Olivier Giroud’s play-off winners Los Angeles FC of Major League Soccer (MLS) in Atlanta on June 16, before then heading to Philadelphia for respective Group D matches against Brazilian giants Flamengo and Tunisian side Esperance de Tunis.

The No10 had previously belonged to winger Mykhailo Mudryk, who remains provisionally suspended from football after testing positive for a banned substance while away on international duty with Ukraine in October.

Mudryk, who denies any wrongdoing, has not played for Chelsea since being handed that provisional ban back in December as he awaits the results of a ‘B’ sample.

If found guilty, then Mudryk - who attended last month’s Conference League final against Real Betis in Wroclaw and was pictured with a winners’ medal after the game - could face a lengthy suspension.

Christian Pulisic, Willian, Eden Hazard, Juan Mata and Joe Cole are just some of the other players to have worn No10 at the Bridge in recent years.

Chelsea also confirmed on Thursday that new £30million signing from Ipswich Liam Delap had been handed the No9, a shirt that has been vacant since ex-Arsenal captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang left for French club Marseille in the summer of 2023.

The England Under-21 international will hope to avoid becoming the latest high-profile Chelsea striker to struggle with that number, with the likes of Aubameyang, Romelu Lukaku, Gonzalo Higuain, Alvaro Morata, Radamel Falcao and Fernando Torres having all done so in recent years, along with many others including Hernan Crespo and Mateja Kezman.