Elliot Anderson Inherits City's No.5 Jersey
Elliot Anderson has been handed one of the most storied shirts at City – the No.5.
The new signing steps straight into a number woven deep into the club’s recent history, inheriting the jersey vacated by City great and England colleague John Stones, who left this summer after a decade, 20 trophies and a legacy that will shadow any successor. It is a bold statement of trust in Anderson and a clear sign of how prominently the club expects him to feature.
That No.5 has never been a quiet shirt. Before Stones, it sat on the backs of some serious City figures: Pablo Zabaleta with his relentless drive, Sylvain Distin’s elegance, Andy Morrison’s steel, Paul Power’s leadership and Tommy Booth’s reliability. Anderson joins that lineage now, carrying both opportunity and expectation every time he steps out.
Guéhi steps into Ake’s shoes
There is another significant defensive reshuffle on the squad list. Marc Guéhi moves to No.6, a number that fits him like a familiar glove.
Guéhi arrived in January, wore No.15 and promptly helped City to a Carabao Cup and FA Cup double in the 2025/26 campaign. Now he takes over the shirt left behind by Nathan Ake, a quiet but influential presence in recent seasons. For Guéhi, it is also a return to his roots: No.6 was his number throughout his five-year stint at Crystal Palace, where he grew from promising youngster into Premier League mainstay.
From No.25 to the gloves of giants
In goal, there is a changing of the guard on the team sheet as well. Gianluigi Donnarumma becomes City’s new No.1.
The Italian, who wore No.25 last season, now steps into a shirt once worn by James Trafford, recently sold permanently to Leeds. It is a number that carries serious weight at this club. Frank Swift, Bert Trautmann, Joe Corrigan, Tony Coton, Joe Hart – some of the most iconic keepers in City history all stood between the posts with that single digit on their backs.
For Donnarumma, this feels like a natural progression. He already wears No.1 for Italy and did the same in his final season at PSG, a campaign in which he swept up Ligue 1, the Coupe de France, the Trophée des Champions and the UEFA Champions League. Now that status is stamped onto his City career as well.
Rulli returns to his first number
Behind him, new arrival Gerónimo Rulli has his own story with numbers. The Argentine keeper will wear No.28, the shirt he first pulled on at Club Estudiantes de La Plata at the start of his professional journey.
For a goalkeeper joining a club with such a rich goalkeeping heritage, it is a subtle nod to his origins rather than a bid to chase history. Donnarumma takes the fabled No.1. Rulli brings the number that shaped him.
Between Anderson’s bold inheritance of Stones’ No.5, Guéhi’s symbolic move to his old No.6 and Donnarumma’s elevation to the City No.1 jersey, the squad list tells its own tale: this is a dressing room being quietly redefined, number by number, before a ball has even been kicked.
