Who wore number 25 in football?

There are some great players who don’t like 1-11. Some of the best players in the Premier League era haven’t been conventional.

Gianfranco Zola

Gianfranco Zola OMRI OBE is an Italian football manager and former footballer who played predominantly as a forward. He was also the assistant manager of Chelsea.

He spent the first decade of his playing career playing in Italy, most notably with Napoli, alongside Diego Maradona and Careca, where he was able to win the Serie A title, and at Parma, where he won the Italian Super Cup and the UEFA Cup. He later moved to English side Chelsea, where he was voted the Football Writers’ Player of the Year in the 1996–97 season. During his time at the club, he won the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, the UEFA Super Cup, two FA Cups, the League Cup, and the Community Shield. In 2003, he was voted Chelsea’s greatest player ever. He was capped 35 times for Italy from his debut in 1991, appearing at the 1994 World Cup, where Italy finished in second place, and Euro 1996.

After a stint with Italy under-21s, Zola began his club managerial career with West Ham United of the Premier League in 2008 in the Premier League, before being sacked in 2010. He was manager of Watford from July 2012 until he announced his resignation on 16 December 2013. From December 2014 to March 2015 he managed Cagliari in Serie A. He returned to Chelsea as the assistant of new Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri on 18 July 2018, ahead of the 2018–19 Premier League season.

Mohamed Elneny

Mohamed Naser Elsayed Elneny is an Egyptian professional footballer who is known as a midfielder for Premier League club Arsenal and the Egypt national team.

Elneny began his senior career in the Egyptian Premier League, before moving to Swiss club Basel in January 2013. He won eight honours at Basel, including the Swiss Super League in each of his four seasons. In January 2016, he was transferred to Arsenal.

Elneny competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics for the Egyptian under-23 team, and played for the senior team at the 2017 and 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, as well as the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Jean-Philippe Gbamin

Jean-Philippe Gbamin is an Ivorian professional footballer who is known as a defensive midfielder for Premier League club Everton and the Ivory Coast national team. He is a former youth international for France.

Wilfred Ndidi

Onyinye Wilfred Ndidi is a Nigerian professional footballer who is known as a defensive midfielder for Premier League club Leicester City and the Nigeria national team. Ndidi is known for his defensive prowess and long range strikes. He has often been considered one of the world’s best defensive midfielders.

Fernandinho

Fernando Luiz Roza, known as Fernandinho, is a Brazilian professional footballer who is known as a captain and midfielder for Premier League club Manchester City, and the Brazil national team. He has also captained Brazil on many occasions.

Fernandinho started his career at Brazilian club Atlético Paranaense before moving to Shakhtar Donetsk in 2005, where he became one of the best foreign players to ever play in the Ukrainian Premier League. With Shakhtar, he won six Ukrainian Premier League titles, four Ukrainian Cups and the 2008–09 UEFA Cup. He was voted by the Shakhtar Donetsk fans as the best Brazilian player to ever play for the team. In 2013, he joined Manchester City, where he won Premier League titles, among other trophies.

The scorer of the only goal in the final of the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship and a full international for Brazil since 2011, he was part of their squad which came fourth at the 2014 FIFA World Cup and also competed at the 2015 Copa América, the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and the 2019 Copa América, winning the latter tournament.

Jadon Sancho

Jadon Malik Sancho is an English professional footballer who is known as a winger for Premier League club Manchester United and the England national team. A highly technical, creative player, he is known for his trickery, pace and use of feints in one-on-one situations. He came as a runner-up for the 2019 Kopa Trophy and was nominated to the 40-man shortlist for the 2020 Golden Boy.

Previously a youth player with Watford and Manchester City, Sancho signed his first senior contract with Borussia Dortmund in 2017. In his second season, he established himself as a first-team regular and was named in the 2018–19 Bundesliga Team of the Season. Ahead of the 2019–20 season, Sancho won his first trophy following the DFL-Supercup victory over Bayern Munich.

Sancho was part of the England youth team that won the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup and made his debut for the senior team in 2018.

David Martin

David Edward Martin is an English professional footballer who is known as a goalkeeper for Premier League club West Ham United. He has played for the England under-17, England under-19 and England under-20 teams.

Dani Olmo

Daniel Olmo Carvajal is a Spanish professional footballer who is known for playing for Bundesliga club RB Leipzig and the Spain national team. He can play as either an attacking midfielder or a winger.

Luca Unbehaun

Luca Unbehaun is a German footballer who is known as a goalkeeper for Borussia Dortmund II. He was included in The Guardian’s “Next Generation 2018”. Unbehaun has represented Germany at numerous youth levels.

Fernando Reges

Fernando Francisco Reges, known simply as Fernando, is a Brazilian footballer who is known for playing for Spanish club Sevilla as a defensive midfielder.

He spent most of his career with Porto with whom he signed in 2007, going on to appear in 237 competitive matches and win 12 major titles, including four Primeira Liga championships and the 2011 Europa League. He also played professionally in England, Turkey and Spain, winning the domestic league with Galatasaray and the 2016 League Cup with Manchester City.

Alessandro Florenzi

Alessandro Florenzi is an Italian professional footballer who is known as a full-back for the Italy national team, and Serie A club Milan, on loan from Roma.

Florenzi started his professional club career with Roma in 2011, but spent the 2011–12 season on loan with Crotone. Florenzi was appointed as Roma’s new captain following the departure of Daniele De Rossi in 2019. He later had spells on loan with Spanish side Valencia, and French side Paris Saint-Germain, winning the Trophée des Champions and the Coupe de France with the latter club during the 2020–21 season.

At international level he was a member of the Italy national under-21 football team that finished second in the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, and also represented the Italy senior side at UEFA Euro 2016 and UEFA Euro 2020, winning the latter tournament.

Adrien Rabiot

Adrien Rabiot-Provost is a French professional footballer who is known as a central midfielder for Serie A club Juventus and the France national team.

Rabiot spent most of his career with Paris Saint-Germain, making his debut with the first team in 2012 and winning eighteen major honours, including five Ligue 1 titles and a domestic treble in 2015–16 and 2017–18. In 2019, Rabiot signed for Juventus on a free transfer, winning the Serie A title during his first season with the club.

Rabiot was capped 53 times for France at youth level, and made his debut for the senior team in 2016, later taking part at UEFA Euro 2020.

David Ospina

David Ospina Ramírez is a Colombian professional footballer who is known as a goalkeeper for Serie A club Napoli and the Colombia national team.

Ospina began his career at Atlético Nacional, making his debut with the club in 2005. After achieving two domestic titles with Los Verdolagas, Ospina joined French side Nice. In 2014, he joined Arsenal on a four-year deal.

Ospina has represented his country at a full international level since 2007. Upon his debut against Uruguay, he became one of the youngest goalkeepers to play for Colombia. He has since earned over 110 caps for his nation, and is one of his nation’s most capped players of all time, appearing at Copa Américas and World Cups.

Pepe Reina

José Manuel “Pepe” Reina Páez is a Spanish professional footballer who is known as a goalkeeper for Italian club Lazio.

The son of famed Barcelona and Atlético Madrid goalkeeper Miguel Reina, Pepe Reina began his career with the Barcelona youth team and made his La Liga debut in the 2000–01 season. He signed for Villarreal in 2002, winning the UEFA Intertoto Cup twice. Reina moved on to Liverpool and made his debut in the 2005 UEFA Super Cup, which Liverpool won. He instantly became first-choice goalkeeper and went on to win both the FA Cup – where he saved three out of four West Ham United penalties in the final – and the FA Community Shield. In 2007, he reached the Champions League Final with Liverpool, matching the feat achieved by his father in 1974, but Liverpool lost to Milan.

Following eight consecutive seasons as Liverpool’s first-choice keeper, Reina spent the 2013–14 season on loan at Napoli, where he was reunited with Rafael Benítez, the coach who signed him to play for Liverpool in 2005. During his loan tenure in Naples, Reina was part of the side that won the Coppa Italia in 2014. Reina then completed a permanent move to Bayern Munich in 2014, where he was the second-choice keeper for behind Manuel Neuer. Reina returned to Napoli on a permanent deal in 2015, where he remained until 2018 when he signed for Milan. In January 2020, he completed a loan move to Aston Villa, before returning to Serie A with Lazio in August 2020.

At international level, Reina played for Spain’s youth team, winning the UEFA European Under-17 Championship in 1999. He made his senior debut in 2005, and has generally been selected as the second-choice keeper behind Iker Casillas and David de Gea. He was part of the Spain squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup and made one appearance in their victorious UEFA Euro 2008 campaign, earning him his first international honour. He was later part of the Spain squads that won their first ever World Cup in 2010 and their third UEFA European Championship in 2012, as well as featuring at the 2014 and 2018 World Cups.

Reina has made one of the highest appearance numbers by a Spanish player in the Premier League, with more than 200 appearances in just his first five seasons, 108 of the 219 appearances being clean sheets. In the 2010–11 season, he kept his 100th Premier League clean sheet for Liverpool in a 3–0 win against Aston Villa.

Antonio Valencia

Luis Antonio Valencia Mosquera, known as Antonio Valencia, is an Ecuadorian former professional footballer who played primarily at a right-wing, then as a right-back throughout his career.

After progressing through the youth system at El Nacional, Valencia became a first team regular and made over 80 appearances for the club. He won the Ecuadorian Serie A with them before signing for La Liga side Villarreal in 2005. He only made two league appearances for the Spanish side in between loan spells at Recreativo for the 2005–06 season and later English Premier League club Wigan Athletic from 2006 to 2008. Wigan Athletic later signed Valencia on a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee in January 2008. His performances for Wigan Athletic soon attracted attention from several high-profile clubs, eventually signing for Manchester United in June 2009.

Regarded as one of Ecuador’s top players in history, Valencia was voted into the PFA Team of the Year in his debut season with the club, and he went on to win two Premier League titles, an FA Cup, two League Cups, three FA Community Shields and the UEFA Europa League. In July 2019 Valencia returned to Ecuador, signing with LDU Quito, with whom he won the inaugural Copa Ecuador in his first season. He announced his retirement in May 2021.

Valencia made his Ecuador debut in 2004 and has represented his country at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the 2007 Copa América, the 2011 Copa América, the 2014 FIFA World Cup, the Copa América Centenario and the 2019 Copa América. Valencia won 99 caps and scored 11 goals for his country.