Lanky Dane to wear pointlessly high shirt number this season
Alleged Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner has announced his decision to double his squad number this season on the official Arsenal website:
“Before [the season] starts I wanted to change my squad number from 26 which I’ve obviously had for a number of seasons now. I chose to move to 52 because it’s a special number to me personally, and I hope that it brings me good luck for the new season.
“I appreciate that a good number of fans have bought their kits for 2009/10 already with names and numbers printed up so I’d like to personally cover the cost of replacing anyone’s shirt that has my previous number. It means a lot to see supporters wearing your name and number, and I want to ensure people aren’t inconvenienced by the change.”
The refund is expected to cost Bendtner £10,000, which means that 250 people have already decided to splash out on a shirt bearing his name. It seems like a low amount, but that’s approximately 250 times greater than the amount of Michael Owen shirts that Manchester utd have sold.
The Spoiler is quite puzzled by the decision to double the squad number. Does he think he will be twice the player next season? Is he intending to dramatically cut the amount of decent chances he fluffs to 52 per cent?
Former Newcastle hitman joins a list of United legends
Those who expected Michael Owen’s new Manchester Utd squad number to be in the high double digits were given a shock yesterday, as the Fit & Healthy Charismatic striker was rewarded with the highly coveted No7 squad number.
Yes, despite admitting that he “didn’t exactly set the world alight in the last year or so” in his first official Utd press conference, Owen will now sit beside George Best, Bryan Robson, Eric Cantona, David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo on the list of owners of the iconic shirt.
In many ways, the decision is a good one: it will give the 29-year-old striker a much-needed confidence boost, and a bloody good reason to keep himself off of the injury table. However, Alex Ferguson’s declaration of faith in the former England star is a double-edged sword, as it will almost certainly put a great deal of pressure on his shoulders. Some might even have the audacity to argue that a man who has scored once every 214 minutes in the past two seasons is not a strong candidate for such a hallowed garment.
So kids, is Owen worthy of the No7 shirt? Perhaps a winger like Nani or Valencia would be more suited to it? Maybe arguing the toss about squad numbers is futile as it has absolutely no bearing on performance? Let us know your thoughts below…
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