If you've been holding off on buying that shiny brand new Eduardo shirt for lack of an official squad number, you may now proceed with your purchase. Chelsea have revealed this morning that our new third-goalkeeper will wear shirt no. 37.
OFFICIAL: New signing Eduardo will wear the number 37 shirt. #CFC pic.twitter.com/GvLgXkZgGK
— ChelseaReport (@CheIseaReport) August 26, 2016
Unsurprisingly, the #37 isn't exactly weighed down by the burden of history. The last player to officially wear it was youngster Jake Clarke-Salter, while others to briefly grace the shirt have included Sebastian Kneissl, Danny Jeffreys, Danny Slatter, and Brian Laudrup. We'll see if Eduardo gets to make any more appearances that those guys did.
In his press conference on Friday, Chelsea head coach Antonio Conte confirmed that Eduardo will fulfill only third-choice goalkeeping duties, as the direct replacement for youngster Jamal Blackman who has gone out on loan. Historically, third goalkeepers only ever get to play in times of injury crises or perhaps in meaningless matches towards the end of the season. Still, it's always good to have experience in the goalkeeping corps.