Barcola set to wear a ‘unique’ shirt number at Liverpool – Here’s the bizarre reason why

The Frenchman is thinking outside the box...

The Reds have been pursuing the winger throughout the summer, after missing out on Yan Diomande, who opted to join Real Madrid.

Initially the club had appeared unprepared to match the European champions' lofty valuation of Barcola, as they began to make enquiries for attacking solutions closer to home, including Yankuba Minteh of Brighton and Hove Albion and Ismaila Sarr of Crystal Palace.

When these too failed to bring about a cheap solution for the Reds, they turned attention back to primary target Barcola, and sealed the agreement.

While it is unclear whether Barcola will be ready and registered in time for the club's next Premier League fixture against Nottingham Forest, on Saturday morning, when he does link up with his teammates the 23-year-old will be wearing a 'unique' shirt number.

Despite the availability of Mo Salah's vacant number 11 shirt, Barcola is reportedly interested in wearing 29 instead, for a very unique reason.

He will become the first Liverpool player to wear the number 29 top since Brazilian midfielder Arthur Melo, three years ago.

Why does Barcola want to wear the number 29 shirt?

In an interview with Club Legacyz, Barcola unveiled his adoration for the 29.

"It’s actually a funny story," he said. "When I was younger, I used to play FIFA.

"In the story mode with Alex Hunter, this number became symbolic for me.

"I thought to myself: 'The day I go pro, it’ll be number 29.'"

"And here I am, I adopted it, and now I’ll never let it go."

So there we have it, Barcola's number 29 shirt is inspired by his love for the video game FIFA.