The squad numbers for the new Championship season have been released – and perhaps the most interesting aspect is the shirt number that hasn’t been assigned.
There is no number 9, a shirt that Rey Manaj was handed at the start of last season but barely wore.
The lack of a new number 9 suggests the Hornets still may have a gap to fill at the heart of the forward line.
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There is no squad number for goalkeeper Maduka Okoye, who joined the club at the start of last season from Sparta Rotterdam.
However the Nigerian international made just two cup appearances, and with young pro keepers Myles Roberts (40) and Alfie Marriott (41) both given squad numbers it could be that Okoye does not feature in longer-term plans.
Jack Grieves, who signed professional forms recently, hasn’t currently been allocated a squad number.
There’s no squad number for Ignacio Pussetto, the Argentinian who joined in 2020 but hasn’t played for the Hornets in almost two years. Last summer he was handed the number 33 before heading off on loan to Sampdoria.
The only other obvious player missing from the list released this afternoon is Kwadwo Baah, the 20-year-old German striker who joined from Rochdale two years ago but has yet to make a senior appearance. He spent last season on loan at Fortune Dusseldorf.
Ryan Porteous takes the number 5 shirt, while Francisco Sierralta moves into 3 from 31, with on-loan Jamal Lewis taking number 6.
Imran Louza switches to 10 from 6, Mattie Pollock is now 15 having been 32 last season and Matheus Martins stays in the 37 shirt he wore during the second half of last season.
New signings Tom Ince (7), Jake Livermore (8), Rhys Healey (14) and Giorgi Chakvetadze (16) are all at the lower end of the list.
Ryan Andrews, who wore 57 last season, will don the 45 shirt this time around.
The squad numbers released on August 1, 2022, had 37 names – those announced today have just 27, further evidence of the trimming of the playing staff that has happened during the summer.
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