Ousmane Dembele Transfer: Remembering Borussia Dortmund’s Previous No. 7s

At some clubs, the unveiling of a new player taking the No. 7 shirt is a new event all of its own, regardless of who that player actually is.

There is something about that horizontal line followed by a diagonal one running from top right to bottom left which evokes something in football supporters, with thoughts of the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, David Beckham, Kenny Dalglish and George Best never too far away.

What about at other clubs, though?

Sieben. // Seven. @Dembouz pic.twitter.com/x4DAybi58Y

— Borussia Dortmund (@BVB) May 18, 2016

At Borussia Dortmund, the unveiling of new wonderkid signing Ousmane Dembele was an exciting enough event all on its own, and it didn’t need confirmation of his No. 7 shirt for that to increase.

But what about the club’s other No. 7s, though? Who were they, and what do they say about the footsteps that Dembele is trying to follow in? Well, initially, not much, but it does get better.

The young Frenchman takes the shirt from the winger Jonas Hofmann, who was never quite able to live up to his potential during four years in the Dortmund first-team setup, largely due to injuries. He was loaned to Mainz last season and then made a permanent switch to Borussia Monchengladbach in January.

Before that, the shirt was taken by Shinji Kagawa upon his return to Dortmund from Manchester United in the summer of 2014, but it wasn’t long before the popular Japanese player switched to the more familiar No. 23 he wore during his two Bundesliga title successes under Jurgen Klopp in 2011 and 2012.

Midfielder Moritz Leitner, another who didn’t quite reach his potential, donned the shirt for the second one of …

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