Victor Munoz Takes Iconic No.23 Shirt at Liverpool

Victor Munoz has been handed one of Anfield’s most evocative numbers for his first season in red – and he arrives with a World Cup winner’s medal already in his luggage.

The Spain international, signed from Osasuna in June, reported back to the AXA Training Centre this week, fresh from lifting the biggest prize in the game. In doing so, he joined a small, elite group: just six players have become world champions while on Liverpool’s books, and none since fellow Spaniards Pepe Reina and Fernando Torres in 2010.

His shirt number had been the final detail left hanging while he was away at the tournament. Jeremy Jacquet had already taken No.5, leaving Munoz’s choice the subject of quiet intrigue around the club.

Now the wait is over. Andoni Iraola’s side confirmed on Wednesday that Munoz will wear No.23.

It is not just any spare number. At Liverpool, 23 carries history.

Luis Diaz was the last to pull it on, using it during the 2022/23 season before stepping into the No.7 shirt the following campaign. That move underlined another strand of Anfield tradition: only five players have worn No.7 for the Reds in the Premier League era, a number steeped in attacking stardom.

No.23, though, will forever be tied to one man above all. Jamie Carragher wore it for the entirety of his 16-year Liverpool career, turning a squad number into a symbol of durability, commitment and a certain hard-edged Scouse defiance. For a generation, 23 meant Carragher throwing himself in front of everything.

Before him, another academy product gave the number its first real prominence. Robbie Fowler was the original No.23 in the Premier League era, using it for three seasons as he exploded onto the scene, before switching to the No.9 ahead of the 1996/97 campaign in the wake of Ian Rush’s departure from the Anfield forward line.

Since Carragher’s retirement, the number has passed through fewer hands than many might expect. Emre Can took it on during his spell in midfield, then Xherdan Shaqiri wore it as a game-changing option in attack. Diaz followed, briefly, before his elevation to seven.

Now it belongs to Munoz.

A newly crowned world champion, stepping into a shirt worn by a local legend, a homegrown goalscorer, a German all-rounder, a Swiss creator and a Colombian winger. The number carries its own weight at Liverpool.

How he wears it will help define the next chapter in the story of 23 at Anfield.