Isco, Beckham and Players Who Wore No. 23 for Madrid

Real Madrid new star signing Isco will wear Number 23 shirt last worn by none other that David Beckham. The former Manchester United star departed for LA Galaxy in 2007 and since then the shirt has been vacant.
Isco who lately left Malaga to join Los Blancis claims that he has chosen the number because of his brother who was born on the same date. Soccerisma provides the list of few Real Madrid players over the past years who have worn the number 23 shirt.

Guti is one of Real Madrid’s legend having served the club for 16 years and in the process won 15 titles, notably three Champions league and 5 La Liga titles. The midfielder has always been a Madridsta, played for Real Madrid (C & B) before moving up. Guti wore number 23 shirt in the start but after a season shifted to number 14. Guti left the Spanish giants in 2010 to join Turkish club Besiktas.

Spanish striker Dani Garcia was the next person to wear the number and he too got promoted from Real Madrid B squad. However for the main team, Garcia could only feature in 10 league games as he normally spent his time on loan with Zaragoza. The Spaniard departed in 1998 to join Mallorca.

One of the best strikers of the past decade could only feature in 3 league games for Real Madrid. The Cameroon international perhaps in the team at the wrong time as Los Blancos had a star-studded side while Eto’o was a new comer.
He spent 3 years on loan with three different teams (Leganes, Espanyol Mallorca) and his number 23 shirts was in between taken by Yugoslavian Perica Ognjenović.  Erto’o finally departed to Mallorca in 2000 and the rest of his shining career is no mystery. He currently plays for Russian side Anzhi.

Pedro Munitis started his career with Racing Santander and served the club for more than 5 years. In 2000, The Spanish forward joined Real Madrid in 2000 and acquired number 23 shirt. He only managed to score 4 goals in 53 league appearances for Madrid and eventually was loaned back to Racing in 2002 from where he joined Deportivo.

The retired England international joined Galacticos in 2003 having played for Red Devils for a decade. Beckham wore number 7 shirt during his United days but since that was already used by Raul at Real Madrid, Becks opted for number 23 because his hero Michael Jordan used to wear that number.
He won his only major trophy with Real Madrid in his last season, La Liga in 2007 and then left for MLS side LA Galaxy.

Isco is without doubt one of the most hottest young prospects in the game right now. That is why Madrid paid a mammoth amount to sign the Spanish sensation from Malaga. Isco might be the answer to Barcelona’s star signing of Neymar and the battle between these two will be as intriguing as Ronaldo vs Messi.
The new number 23 hopes to win the La Decima in his first season with the club. Whether or not he will be able to fulfill that dream, only time will tell.

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