Victor Munoz Takes Liverpool's Iconic No.23 Shirt
Victor Munoz has barely unpacked his bags at Liverpool, but he has already inherited a number that carries serious weight at Anfield.
The World Cup-winning midfielder, signed from Osasuna in June, has been handed the No.23 shirt for his debut season under Andoni Iraola. It is a number stitched deep into Liverpool’s recent history, and one that comes with its own expectations.
Munoz reported back to the AXA Training Centre earlier this week, returning as one of the game’s newest world champions. In doing so, he joined a very small and exclusive club: just six players have lifted the World Cup while on Liverpool’s books, and none since fellow Spaniards Pepe Reina and Fernando Torres in 2010. That kind of company tells its own story.
His squad number had been one of the few remaining loose ends of Liverpool’s summer business. With fellow new signing Jeremy Jacquet already taking the No.5, the club kept Munoz’s choice under wraps while he was still on international duty. The reveal came on Wednesday: No.23, back in circulation and back under the spotlight.
The shirt has not been seen since Luis Diaz wore it in the 2022/23 season. The Colombian forward then shifted to the No.7, a number with its own legendary lineage at Anfield, and one that only five players have worn for the club in the Premier League era. That change quietly freed up 23, waiting for the right fit.
Few Liverpool numbers are as instantly evocative as 23. For a generation, it belongs to Jamie Carragher. The Bootle-born defender pulled it on as a teenager and never took it off, wearing it throughout a 16-year senior career that delivered Champions League glory, cup finals and countless last-ditch tackles in front of the Kop. Carragher didn’t just wear 23. He defined it.
Before him, another academy product gave the number its first real prominence. Robbie Fowler, the local hero and ruthless finisher, was the first to bring No.23 to life in the Premier League era. He carried it for three seasons before moving to the No.9 shirt ahead of the 1996/97 campaign, once Ian Rush had stepped away from leading Liverpool’s attack. The switch felt symbolic at the time: the heir apparent taking on the centre-forward’s crown.
Since Carragher’s retirement, the number has been used more sparingly, but rarely by bit-part figures. Emre Can wore 23 during his spell in midfield, a versatile, muscular presence in the early years of Jürgen Klopp’s reign. Xherdan Shaqiri followed, a player of moments rather than months, but one whose left foot still left its mark on some of Liverpool’s biggest nights.
Now it is Munoz’s turn to write his chapter.
He arrives with the glow of a World Cup win and the trust of a manager ready to reshape Liverpool’s next era. The number on his back will not dictate his impact, but at this club, it always adds a layer of meaning. Carragher’s grit, Fowler’s flair, Diaz’s electricity – 23 has seen a bit of everything.
Munoz steps into that history at a time of change, carrying both a medal and a legacy number. The question now is simple: can he make No.23 his own in a place where numbers never stay just numbers for long?
