Henrikh Mkhitaryan will use two different jerseys numbers for Arsenal this season.
The Armenian will use 77 in the Europa League due to a rule preventing him from wearing the number seven shirt he was handed after replacing Alexis Sanchez.
UEFA’s rules forbid two players from wearing the same shirt number in European competition during a single season.
Article 52 Section 02 of UEFA’s rulebook states: “No number may be used by more than one player on a team and no player may use more than one number in the course of a season.”
Liverpool found themselves in a similar situation during the 2010/11 season when Andy Carroll was forced to wear number 29 in the Europa League, despite taking Fernando Torres’ number 9 shirt when he arrived at Anfield in the January window.
Mkhitaryan described his move to Arsenal as “a dream come true” when he moved to the Emirates in a swap deal which saw Sanchez move to Manchester United.
Arsenal’s opponents in the last 32 of the Europa League are Osterunds, with the first leg in Sweden on February 15.
