Blues signing inherits legendary shirt

Oscar handed Drogba's famous number 11

By Zain Alvi | 7th August 2012

Chelsea have announced that summer signing Oscar will inherit the legendary number 11 shirt vacated by Didier Drogba, who left the club after eight seasons following the 2011-12 campaign.

Drogba helped the Blues claim FA Cup and UEFA Champions League glory in his last season with the team before moving on to Shanghai to play with local side Shenhua.

While Chelsea have not yet added another striker to their ranks following the Ivorian’s departure, they have spent heavily on the signings of Eden Hazard and Marko Marin, in addition to Oscar.

With Hazard and Marin already assigned numbers 17 and 21, respectively, 20-year old Brazilian Oscar is the latest to receive a shirt number and it is one that the youngster will be proud of.

“Oscar will wear the Chelsea number 11 jersey. The midfielder, who is currently with the Brazilian team at the London Olympics, will fill the shirt vacated by Didier Drogba in the summer,” an official statement confirmed on Chelsea’s website.

The statement continued: “Drogba had worn the shirt since 2006, when he replaced Damien Duff having previously sported the number 15.

“Prior to Duff, Boudewijn Zenden had inhabited the 11, having replaced the legendary Dennis Wise who had worn the shirt from when squad numbers were introduced in 1993 until he left for Leicester in 2001.”

Former Sao Paulo and Internacional starlet Oscar will be the latest arrival in Chelsea’s pre-season training, which means he is unlikley to feature in this weekend’s Community Shield and perhaps even the opening fixture of the Premier League season.