Stephan Lichtsteiner has some big shirt-numerical shoes to fill

Lost in yesterday’s announcement of the signing of Stephan Lichtsteiner was the news that he also chose a shirt number. You may recognize the number he chose, as it once graced the back of this man:

Photo by Paul Gilham/Getty Images

Yep, that’s right - Arsenal’s newest defender has chosen, in his infinite wisdom, to wear the number 12. No word whether it’s in honor of his admiration for the lamentably departed Frenchman, but given that Arsenal are basically out of small numbers, I’d bet it’s probably more a case of “Well, I’ll take 12 because it’s available”.

I mean, sure, a shirt number is a relatively meaningless thing, particularly in a sport that doesn’t traditionally retire them as tributes, but it is good to see Lichtsteiner get fully settled into the squad, and good to see that he’s not afraid of the challenge posed by wearing the shirt of one of recent-era Arsenal’s favorite sons