New Liverpool signing Alexis Mac Allister had revealed he turned down the chance to wear the iconic No.8 shirt out of respect for Steven Gerrard.
Mac Allister completed his bargain £35million move to Liverpool from Brighton earlier in June.
The midfielder joins the Reds off the back of a stellar 2022/23 where he was pivotal for the Seagulls as they qualified for Europe for the first time in their history and also for Argentina as they won the World Cup in Qatar.
Jurgen Klopp will be hoping the 24-year-old can help fire his side back to glory after a disappointing season where they failed to qualify for the Champions League for the first time since 2016.
Upon his unveiling at Anfield, it was revealed that Mac Allister would wear the No.10 shirt, just as he had at Brighton.
It’s a shirt number that carries a lot of weight and history, having been worn in the past by Liverpool greats such as John Barnes, Michael Owen and most recently Sadio Mane.
But the player has now revealed he could have chosen an even more iconic Liverpool shirt to wear: the No.8 made famous by the legendary Gerrard.
‘One day, I was talking to my dad when he asked me what number I would wear for Liverpool,’ Mac Allister told The Mirror.
‘I knew there were several numbers available – including 10 and 8. The No.8 shirt is a very important number in that club because of Gerrard, so I hesitated a bit.
‘I ended up choosing the 10, but 8 is a number that I like a lot and has a history at the club.’
One of Liverpool’s greatest every players and captains, Gerrard wore the eight shirt from 2004 to 2015 and it was deemed so special that no player would wear it again until Naby Keita in 2018.
However, the Guinea midfielder struggled during his five-year spell at Anfield and is leaving this summer to join Werder Bremen on a free.
In related news, Reds forward Darwin Nunez looks set to switch from the No.27 shirt to No.9 which has been vacated by the departing Roberto Firmino.
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