Gameiro loses No 9 shirt as Valencia announce squad numbers

The biggest shock when Valencia announced squad numbers for the coming season was news that veteran striker Kevin Gameiro would no longer be wearing the number 9 shirt, new arrival Ali Akman taking over his preferred number for the coming season, which could indicate where both feature in Barlow’s plans for the coming season. Gameiro enjoyed a fantastic season in the shirt last year, finishing top scorer in La Liga with 21 goals, but this year he will don the number 17 shirt, with 19 year old Akman, a summer arrival from Bursaspor, taking over the number 9.

With a host of summer arrivals, other squad numbers of note are new keeper Wuilker Faríñez, who will be wearing the number 1 shirt, with Cillessen remaining in his preferred number 13, while loan striker Troy Parrott will pick up the number 11 shirt, fellow new arrival Dario Sarmiento instead in the number 12. Latest summer arrival Aubrey Modiba will wear 20, while another new face, Brazilian Otávio, is 21. 27 year old forward Loren, who also joined in the summer on a free transfer from Real Betis, will be in the 25 shirt for the coming season.