Victor Munoz Takes Iconic No.23 Shirt at Liverpool

Victor Munoz has barely walked through the doors at Liverpool, but the number on his back already ties him to some serious Anfield history.

The Spain international, fresh from lifting the World Cup and joining from Osasuna in June, reported for pre-season at the AXA Training Centre this week with one detail still missing: his shirt number. With fellow summer signing Jeremy Jacquet snapping up the No.5, the suspense lingered while Munoz was busy becoming a world champion.

Now it’s over. Andoni Iraola’s side have confirmed that Munoz will wear No.23.

It is not just any squad number at Liverpool. It is one that carries echoes.

Luis Diaz was the last to pull it on, using it in the 2022/23 season before moving to the No.7 shirt, a jersey worn by only a handful of players for the club in the Premier League era.

Before the Colombian, the 23 had already been woven into the club’s modern story by a pair of fan favourites and two high-profile imports.

Jamie Carragher made No.23 his own, dragging it through tackles, last-ditch blocks and European nights for the entirety of his 16-year Liverpool career. The Bootle defender turned a simple number into a symbol of reliability and defiance on the Anfield turf.

Robbie Fowler wore it first. The academy prodigy, the local goalscorer who became “God” on the Kop, gave the number its first airing before switching to No.9 ahead of the 1996/97 season after Ian Rush vacated the shirt and the centre of Liverpool’s attack.

Later, Emre Can picked it up, bringing a blend of versatility and drive to the midfield, and Xherdan Shaqiri followed, adding flashes of invention and big-game moments in his own stint with 23 on his back.

Now it belongs to Munoz, Liverpool’s newest World Cup winner and the first player since Pepe Reina and Fernando Torres in 2010 to return to Anfield with that medal around his neck.

The number is set. The lineage is clear. What Munoz writes into the story of Liverpool’s No.23 starts now.