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The number 20 shirt will never be worn again at Liverpool after the Reds retired it in honour of Diogo Jota.
Jota wore the shirt ever since his arrival in 2020, right up until his tragic death last Thursday aged just 28.
“Diogo joined us in 2020, he won us number 20, and he wore – with honour, distinction and affection – the number 20” FSG’s CEO of football Michael Edwards fittingly summarised for Liverpoolfc.com.
“As far as Liverpool Football Club is concerned, he will be forever our number 20.”
Jota will forever be synonymous with 20 at Liverpool, but as the Reds remove the number from use, who were the other nine players to have worn the shirt before the Portuguese?
Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images
The first ever player to don the now iconic shirt number was Norwegian left-back Stig Inge Bjornebye.
Bjornebye arrived at Anfield in 1992, wearing 20 right through his Liverpool career, which stretched through to 2000.
Bjornebye made 184 appearances with 20 on his back, scoring four times.
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As Bjornebye left at the turn of the century, his number was picked up by Nick Barmby, who controversially joined from Everton.
A tricky winger with an eye for goal, Barmby stayed only two years at Liverpool, but played a big part in the historic treble win of 2000/01.
He left for Leeds United in 2002 having made 57 appearances, scoring eight goals.
READ MORE: Liverpool made another brilliant gesture to Diogo Jota on Friday which fans may have missed
Once Barmby left, the number 20 shirt then lay vacant for a year before being picked up by exciting French youngster Anthony Le Tallec.
Arriving alongside countryman Florent Sinama Pongolle, Le Tallec ultimately failed to make an impact at Anfield, making just 23 appearances in his debut season.
After a year with the No.
20 meant it was free for new signing Scott Carson to claim in 2004.
But Carson made just nine appearances with the number, before leaving on-loan for Charlton Athletic in 2006.
Although the goalkeeper stayed at Liverpool for another two years, his number had already been given up long before he left.
Photo by Jamie McDonald/Getty Images
Perhaps the most notable player to wear No.
20 before Jota, Javier Mascherano inherited it from Carson after arriving in January 2007.
Mascherano was a monster of a defensive midfielder, acting as the lynchpin of Liverpool’s ‘best midfield in the world.’
With the Reds in shambles in 2010, his exit was guaranteed and he went on to become a mainstay in Pep Guardiola’s great Barcelona side.
After Mascherano’s exit, Liverpool academy graduate Jay Spearing attempted to step into the Argentine’s shoes.
A similar player by nature, Spearing took Mascherano’s shirt as he impacted himself on Kenny Dalglish’s team.
Although never in the same class as ‘El Jefe,’ Spearing always gave his all and left a League Cup winner with his boyhood club, having made 25 appearances in the No.
20 shirt.
Following Spearing’s exit, the number was handed to another new arrival, with French left-back Aly Cissokho arriving on loan from Valencia in 2013.
Cissokho was in and out of the team as Luis Suarez almost fired Liverpool to an unlikely Premier League title.
The defender headed back to Spain at the end of the campaign having made 19 appearances.
20, and the penultimate man to wear the shirt was Adam Lallana.
Lallana was not an instant hit after signing from Southampton in 2014, but over time he became a fan favourite for his work ethic and silky footwork.
After playing his part in Liverpool’s title win in 2020, Lallana made his exit, freeing the 20 up for Jota to inherit.
The rest, as they say, is history.
And while there is immense sadness that Jota will indeed be the final wearer of this poignant number, it is a gesture which will ensure he lives forever at Liverpool.
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