Chelsea: Kalidou Koulibaly's phone call with John Terry to ask for his No. 26 shirt

John Terry made the number 26 shirt iconic at Chelsea.

The club’s greatest ever captain, Terry lifted five Premier League titles as well as the Champions League trophy with the unorthodox number on his back, but he certainly had good reason for doing so.

During a 2019 Q&A on Instagram, the Blues icon explained: “When I broke into the first team at Chelsea that was my number and I had seen some fans with my name and number on their shirts. I didn’t want them paying out for another shirt.”

A very classy reason to say the least, and it also had the fortunate side effect of proving an easy number to immortalise in Chelsea‘s history because it’s not exactly the first shirt that players reach for.

Much like Trent Alexander-Arnold standing by his number 66 jersey at Anfield, it’s a strip that’s not only incredibly personal to the player, but one that, by osmosis, becomes synonymous with that specific individual too.

And since Terry waved goodbye to Stamford Bridge on the back of yet another title triumph in 2016/17, the jersey for which he will be forever associated has gone untouched.

As a result, you would certainly have been forgiven for thinking that the Blues had quietly retired the shirt in much the same way AC Milan have done for Paolo Maldini or West Ham United did for Bobby Moore.

However, as understandable of an assumption as that is to make, it’s simply not the case because Terry’s legendary No. 26 shirt will indeed be returning to west London this season.

That’s because new signing Kalidou Koulibaly also happens to be a fan of the number having worn it for eight seasons at Napoli and will now continue that streak by way of inheriting Terry’s No. 26 baton at the Bridge.

And while Chelsea fans have suspected as much