Tottenham Confirm Cristian Romero Shirt Number Change

Tottenham have confirmed that both Cristian Romero and Oliver Skipp will wear new shirt numbers for the 2022/23 Premier League season. The news comes ahead of the team departing for the club’s pre-season tour of South Korea, with Spurs’ first match coming on Wednesday against Team K League.
Joining the club from Atalanta last summer, Romero inherited the No.4 jersey that was Toby Alderweireld’s prior to his move to Qatar side Al-Duhail. However, the Argentina international has changed ahead of the new campaign and will now wear No.17, which has been vacant since Moussa Sissoko’s exit last August.
Perhaps a shock for some fans to see Romero switch from No.4, the centre-back has an affinity with No.17 having worn it for Club Atletico Belgrano, Genoa and Atalanta during his career so far. He doesn’t wear the number on international duty for Argentina, however, instead wearing No.13.

Midfielder Oliver Skipp, who wore the number 29 for Tottenham last year, will now wear Cristian Romero’s old No. 4 jersey. Whereas, the Argentinian centre-back will be donning the number 17 from next season.

Why Is Cristian Romero Trading No.4 For No.17?

Center-back Romero is one of Tottenham’s most important first-team players, so trading in no.4 for no.17 is a slightly unusual change.
Four is generally considered a much more desirable number than seventeen, but not to Romero.
Romero began his senior career wearing no.17. It was his first ever squad number at Club Atletico Belgrano in his native Argentina.
He also wore no.17 at Genoa and Atalanta, but that number was unavailable when he joined Spurs in August 2021 as it belonged to Moussa Sissoko.
Sissoko left Tottenham 21 days after Romero arrived, but by that time the defender had already made his Premier League debut with the no.4 on his back.

Romero made 30 appearances for Spurs last season in all competitions, and he has delivered numerous sublime displays. With a season under his belt, the Argentine will only get better in the 2022/23 campaign.