clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Filipe Luis to take the number 5 shirt at Chelsea

The Brazilian will take over the number vacated by Michael Essien

Shaun Botterill

Filipe Luis will be the third first-team signing Chelsea have made during the summer transfer window, and now that he's agreed to a contract with the Blues, he's been assigned a shirt number as well. Here's Gigi Salmon breaking the news:

The number 5 shirt at Chelsea has some fairly nice history during the past 20 years. After being worn by Erland Johnson, Frank Leboeuf wore it for the next half-decade. It went unused for a few years before Alexei Smertin wore it for a season, before Michael Essien made it his own starting in 2005.

While it's unlikely that Luis will have the same sort of career at Chelsea that the number 5 before him did, hopefully his time at the club will see Chelsea win trophies at the same sort of clip that they did in Essien's best years.

Sign up for the newsletter Sign up for the We Ain't Got No History Daily Roundup newsletter!

A daily roundup of Chelsea news from We Ain't Got No History