Liverpool have unveiled the signing of central defender Ronald Araujo, and he has chosen the number 33.
Araujo has signed a year-long loan deal, and Liverpool will be paying his full salary for the season. At the end of the year, Liverpool will have the option to purchase the defender for £55 million, but there is no obligation, and it will be Liverpool’s choice.
Araujo came as a much-needed reinforcement for the Liverpool defence, who were looking particularly short on senior centre-backs. New signing Jeremy Jacquet is yet to play a minute in pre-season due to a range of knocks in his recovery from a serious injury last season.
Araujo had previously worn the number four at Barcelona, but this number is obviously taken up by the current club captain, Virgil van Dijk.
When Araujo first broke into the Barcelona first team he wore the number 33, and his selection of this number will be a call-back to the number that saw him break into success into the Barcelona squad.
The Liverpool number 33 shirt has been vacant since 2016, when Jordan Ibe left the club. Prior to that, it had been worn by Jonjo Shelvey.
The most famous wearer of the 33 shirt is that of Neil Mellor, who even though his career at Liverpool wasn’t the most successful had some incredible moments in the shirt.
Mellor played 22 times for Liverpool over the course of four seasons and scored six goals. One of his two Premier League goals was a stunning winner against Arsenal from distance in 2004. Another was a goal against Olympiacos in the Champions League. Liverpool needed to win by two at Anfield to get out of the Champions League group stage and fell behind to a Rivaldo opener.
Mellor scored Liverpool’s second less than five minutes after he came from the bench and that set the game up for Steven Gerrard to score the famous goal that sent them on their way to the knockout stages. Liverpool would win one of the most famous finals in history in Istanbul later that season.