The number 20 is a number that has seen some players create legacies in. Whether as a prolific supersub, a prodigious young talent or a legendary striker, the players on this list have made an impact wearing that number.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
Born in Kristiansund, Norway but made for Manchester. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is one of the most iconic players to wear the number 20 jersey. He started his career at Clausenengen FK where he spent 10 years in their youth system and five in their first team. He made 109 appearances and scored 115 times for the club.
In 1995, he moved on to Molde where he scored 41 goals in 54 games over two seasons. His performances caught the eye of Manchester United and he moved on to the English club. It was there he gained icon status and became a legend of the club as their beloved number 20, his crowning moment being in the 1999 UEFA Champions League final where he scored the winning goal.
Solskjaer played 366 times for Man United with 150 of those made as a substitute. He scored 126 goals with 33 coming in the last 15 minutes of games. He truly lived up to the name ‘Super Sub’. He was so loved by the club’s fans that they have a banner that reads ‘20LEGEND’ in the stands every matchday.
Dele Alli
Dele Alli’s career may have taken a downward turn in recent times but the Englishman was once seen as the future of football with the potential to be one of the top players in the sport.
Dele signed for Tottenham Hotspur from MK Dons in February 2015 for £5m and was immediately sent back on loan to the League One outfit. When he returned for the 15/16 season, he was given the number 20 jersey.
He made an instant impact by scoring two weeks after his debut. By the end of that season, he ended up with 10 goals and nine assists in 33 games, winning the PFA Young Player Of The Year Award and it looked like the fee paid for him was turning out to be a steal.
The 2016/2017 season was his best personal campaign. The Englishman ended the season with 22 goals and 13 assists in 50 games. He became only the fourth player to win the PFA Young Player Of The Year Award in consecutive seasons with Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs and Robbie Fowler three players to achieve that feat before him.
In his Tottenham Career, Dele Alli played 269 games, scoring 67 goals and assisting 61 times. He also helped his team reach the UEFA Champions League final in 2019.
Gonzalo Higuain
The Legendary Argentine forward has played for some of the biggest clubs in world football but his time at Real Madrid saw him score goals and win titles with the number 20 on the back of his jersey.
Higuain, who was born in Brest, France, started his senior professional career in Argentina for River Plate. In 2006, he moved to Real Madrid for €12 million and was given the number 20 throughout his seven year spell at the club.
He didn’t set the world alight in his first season at the club as he played sporadically and struggled for consistent minutes on the pitch. He did well in his second season at the club but still struggled for minutes. He scored eight goals in 25 La Liga games but only played 870 minutes in the League.
He got his chance to be a starter in the 2008/2009 season after an injury to Ruud van Nistelrooy and he never looked back. He scored 22 league goals in 32 games that season and began to make his name as one of the top strikers around.
His entire Real Madrid career saw him play 264 games with 161 goals scored with a further 56 assists. He won three La Liga titles, one Copa Del Rey and two Supercopa Espana crowns.
Oliver Bierhoff
Oliver Bierhoff hails from Karlsruhe, West Germany and is one of the greatest German strikers of all time.
Bierhoff first wore the number 20 at club level for SV Austria Salzburg (now known as Red Bull Salzburg) in 1990. He spent a single season there and scored 27 goals in 36 games. The following season, he moved to Ascoli and shone in Serie B before Udinese Calcio snapped him up. It was at Udinese that he established himself as a top striker and German international. Three seasons with the Italian outfit saw him score 62 goals in 96 games.
After three years, he moved on to Inter Milan and won the Serie A title. He scored 36 goals in 91 games for the Nerazzurri.
For Germany, Oliver Bierhoff earned 70 caps and scored 37 goals, the 10th highest in the national team’s history. His defining moment on the national team was at Euro 96. Germany’s number 20 came off the bench to score two extra time goals in the final to earn his side the European Championship.
Deco
Now a football Agent, Deco was one of the best players of his generation and is one of the best Portuguese midfielders in the nation’s history.
The Brazil born midfielder first wore the number 20 jersey when he signed for Barcelona in 2004. He left FC Porto after winning 10 trophies in six seasons including a UEFA Champions League, a UEFA Cup, playing 202 games, scoring 45 goals and assisting a further 91, thus establishing himself as one of the best players around.
He instantly became an important player to the squad and won the La Liga title in his first season. In four seasons with the Blaugrana, Deco won two League titles, one UEFA Champions League and two Supercopa Espana. In 161 games, he scored 20 goals and created for others another 45.
He moved to Chelsa in 2008 and continued to achieve success as the Blues’ number 20. He only spent two seasons with the Blues but he won one League title, two consecutive FA Cups and a Community Shield.
Deco has been named UEFA Club Player of the Year once and UEFA Club Midfielder of the Year twice.
Marco Asensio
Marco Asensio might be wearing the number 11 right now but when he burst onto the scene, he was Real Madrid’s exciting number 20.
Now 26, the Palma born attacker made his Real Madrid debut against Sevilla in the UEFA Super Cup. He announced himself to the world with a wonderful 25-yard strike as Real Madrid beat their Spanish counterparts 3-2. His dream debut season consisted of him winning La Liga and the UEFA Champions League. He scored in their 4-1 victory over Juventus in the final.
Ascensio began the following season the same way he began the last by scoring worldies in each leg of the Supercopa Espana in a 5-1 aggregate win over eternal rivals Barcelona. It was clear that Real Madrid’s number 20 was the future of Los Blancos.
In Asensio’s four seasons as Real Madrid’s number 20, he won two La Liga trophies, two UEFA Champions League titles, two UEFA Super Cups and three FIFA Club world cups.
Bernardo Silva
The Manchester City midfielder is arguably the best active player wearing number 20 right now. The Portugal international signed for Manchester City in 2017 for a fee that reportedly cost £43.5 million from AS Monaco, where he caught the eye of the continent. Ironically, Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City were defeated by Monaco in the UEFA Champions League the season before.
Silva won the Premier League title and League Cup in his first season at the Etihad and the following year he was named the club’s Player of the Year after they won the League again as well as the FA Cup and League Cup.
Bernado Silva has played 256 times for the Citizens, scoring 50 goals and providing 52 assists. In his last five seasons with the club as at the time of writing, he has won four Premier League titles, one FA Cup, four League Cups, and two Community Shields.
Now in his sixth season, Bernado Silva will be looking to add to that already impressive trophy haul.
Robin Van Persie
Although it was for only three seasons, Robin Van Persie wore the number 20 and helped United win a record-setting 20th Premier League title in 2013.
Van Persie made a controversial move from Arsenal to Manchester United for a fee of £24 million in 2012. The man, who was Arsenal’s top scorer the season before, moved to their bitter rivals and became their top scorer as well. He scored 26 goals and assisted a further 15 in 38 games to help United win the League in Sir Alex Ferguson’s final season at the club.
In Van Persie’s three seasons at the club, he played 105 games and scored 51 goals with a further 21 goals assisted. Along with the League title, Van Persie also won the community shield.
Vinicius Junior
Vinicius Jr is undoubtedly one of the top five players on the planet under the age of 23. The Brazilian wears the number 20 for Real Madrid and is in his third season wearing that jersey.
He signed for Real Madrid for £38 million from boyhood club Flamengo in 2017. It was the highest fee ever paid for a player under 19.
Vinicius was given the number 20 shirt in 2020/2021 (formerly won by Marco Asensio who was mentioned earlier) but didn’t have a breakthrough season until the following year. In the 2020/2021 season, Vinicius played 52 games, scoring 22 goals and assisting 20. He formed a deadly partnership with Karim Benzema, which saw them win La Liga and the UEFA Champions League.
So far in his Real Madrid career, Vinicius has won two La Liga titles, one UEFA Champions League, one UEFA Super Cup and one FIFA Club World Cup. At 22, he has his whole career ahead of him with lots of accolades to come. He is in line to achieve everything wearing the number 20 jersey.