Petr Cech to wear the No 33 shirt at Arsenal: £11m Czech goalkeeper takes Nicklas Bendtner's old number

Because the spine has 33 vertebrae...

Petr Cech's Arsenal shirt (twitter.com/PetrCech)

Petr Cech's shirt number has been confirmed for Arsenal, and it's No 33.

The reasons for this, as the Czech goalkeeper has revealed, is because he is 33 years old, he has made 333 Premier League appearances and...because the spine has 33 vertebrae.

It means that Wojciech Szczesny, who started last season as Arsenal's first-choice 'keeper before losing his place to the Colombian David Ospina, will hold onto his No 1 shirt.

Ospina has been heavily linked with a move away from the Emirates this summer, with Everton the most recent side linked.

The last player to have the No 33 shirt at Arsenal was striker Benik Afobe in the 2011/12 season.

Cech signed for the Gunners from Chelsea for £11m last month.

He has been named in the 27-man Gunners' squad that will play in the two game Asia Trophy in Singapore.

Nicklas Bendtner in the No 33 shirt during the 2004/05 season (GETTY IMAGES)

The Gunners are only away for around a week with a match against a Singapore Select XI on 15 July and then either a 'final' or third-place play-off on 18 July. They will then return to England in time to prepare for the Emirates Cup on 25-26 July.