Mateus Fernandes to wear kit #18 at Tottenham after asking Yang Min-hyeok to switch
Weirdly, one of the first questions fans ask after a new signing joins the club is “What number will he wear?” And usually it’s a good question. Tottenham rarely announces kit numbers in the summer because of the constant churn of players coming in and out, and their own number preferences. The #9 kit is currently occupied by Richarlison, for example. Will it remain his, or will he be sold this summer, opening up that number for someone else, or someone new? It’s why Spurs don’t confirm kit numbers until just before the start of the new season (and why you should always wait to buy a numbered kit online until those are confirmed).
Some players however are particularly attached to a certain number and that’s the case with Spurs’ newest signing Mateus Fernandes, who preferred #18, the kit he wore at his two previous clubs, Sporting and West Ham. The problem is — that number is already taken, by Spurs’ young Korean forward Yang Min-hyeok.
According to Football.London’s Alasdair Gold, however, Fernandes will nonetheless wear kit #18 next season at Spurs, after asking Min-hyeok if he was willing to give up the number so Fernandes could have it. Now, I don’t know if Min-hyeok was asked to give up his kit number or ASKED to give up his kit number (if you know what I mean). But if there’s a hierarchy of players, Fernandes is certainly on a higher rung, being Tottenham’s record transfer signing (at least until Sandro Tonali is announced). Yang is likely going to head back out on loan this coming season, and who knows what number he’ll be assigned at his loan club? Giving up #18 is likely a given, and who wouldn’t want to wear the former number of Harry Kane, Jermain Defoe, Jurgen Klinsmann, and Fernando Llorente? And anyway, Gold points out that Yang likes #47, which he wore when he was playing in Korea.
Sounds like it’s not a big deal either way. So you can purchase your Fernandes kits with confidence.
