This is not yet 100 per cent official as the Chelsea website has been known to be wrong before on occasion about such matters, but the choice makes sense.
According to the scrolling marquee at the bottom of the main page, Nathan Aké has taken his old no.6 shirt back for the rest of the season. Aké’s player page itself flashes ‘6’ for a second before reverting to a blank squad number. Presumably this will be fixed sooner rather than later.
@JoostNa @chelseayouth pic.twitter.com/6SpJUSqJ5b
— Łukasz Ambrochowicz (@AmbrooCFC) January 13, 2017
Aké takes his old number back. https://t.co/cjqZKlR4M7
— Chelsea Youth (@chelseayouth) January 13, 2017
After making his debut while wearing no.57 in 2012-13 and then switching to no.27 the following season, Aké picked up Oriol Romeu’s vacant no.6 shirt for 2014-15. He was set to continue in that before heading out on loan to Watford the following summer, which allowed Baba Rahman to sidle in and grab it for a season. It is now Baba who’s out on loan and Aké’s who is back, and so is the no.6 shirt on his back.
The no.6 shirt is hallowed ground of course, with two of the club’s greatest defenders ever, Marcel Desailly and Ricardo Carvalho wearing it for many years. That’s a lot to live up to, young Nathan!