Yan Diomande's Jersey Number Drops a Major Hint About Real Madrid's Bold Transfer Strategy

Real Madrid have confirmed their official squad numbers for the upcoming season, with record-breaking signing Yan Diomande assigned the No. 25 shirt.

It has been a transformative summer at the Bernabéu, with re-elected president Florentino Pérez bringing in José Mourinho as head coach and completing six first-team additions to date.

Bernardo Silva and Ibrahim Konaté arrived on free transfers following the expiration of their respective deals at Manchester City and Liverpool. Additionally, Marc Cucurella, Denzel Dumfries, Carlos Espí and Diomande have been brought in through transfers totalling more than €200 million ($230 million)—the club's largest single-window spending since the summer of 2019.

With the new campaign just a fortnight away, Madrid have released the official squad numbers for 2026–27, confirming the digits their new arrivals and existing players will don.

New Players Assigned Numbers for New Season

Konaté has been allocated No. 16, while Cucurella will take the No. 17 shirt. Midfielder Silva is assigned No. 20—the same number he carried throughout his tenure at Manchester City. Young attacker Espí receives No. 19, while Dumfries will wear No. 24 and marquee signing Diomande will don the No. 25 jersey.

Diomande previously wore the No. 49 shirt at RB Leipzig, a number unavailable at Madrid as La Liga regulations require first-team registered players to wear numbers between 1 and 25. Players registered with the reserve side, Real Madrid Castilla, may wear higher numbers when called up to the first team. Consequently, Thiago Pitarch has been listed as No. 27 for the coming season.

The No. 25 shirt does not carry the most distinguished legacy at Real Madrid, having most recently been worn by backup goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga during the 2023–24 season. That said, notable figures including Eduardo Camavinga, Rodrygo, Vinícius Júnior and Thibaut Courtois have each briefly donned the number for Los Blancos.

Numbers Suggest Transfer Business Is Complete

While the majority of players who featured for Real Madrid during the 2025–26 season have retained their previous numbers for the new campaign, a handful of changes have been made.

Defender Raúl Asencio has moved into the No. 2 shirt, vacating his former No. 17 for Cucurella, while fellow centre-back Dean Huijsen switches to No. 4 from No. 24.

The full list of official numbers also seems to indicate that Mourinho's squad for the coming season is essentially finalised. Every number from 1 through 25 is now taken, meaning a player would need to be deregistered to free up space for any additional first-team signing.

There has been speculation that the likes of Endrick (9) and Camavinga (6) could still depart either permanently or on loan. However, earlier reports suggesting Asencio might leave now appear less credible following his promotion to a higher-profile squad number.

2026–27 Real Madrid First-Team Jersey Numbers