Liverpool's greatest ever players by number, including Mohamed Salah, Steven Gerrard, Virgil van Dijk and Sir Kenny Dalglish

Liverpool may not have been at their best in 2025-26 so far, but the squad that lifted the club's second Premier League title in five years last term have earned their place in the Reds' storied history.

Talismanic forward Mohamed Salah in particular delivered an incredible season, scoring 34 goals and providing 23 assists across all competitions, raising his status at Anfield to an even higher level.

To bolster his reputation further, the 33-year-old broke the record for the most goal contributions at one club in the history of the Premier League earlier this season, overtaking Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney to clinch top spot.

However, the Merseysiders have announced that the Egyptian winger is set to leave the club at the end of the current campaign, having agreed to cut his contract short in order to facilitate a potential free transfer elsewhere.

After Salah's exit was revealed on Tuesday, Sports Mole has created a list of Liverpool's greatest ever players with a difference, ranking the best to have worn every shirt number for the club.

© Imago

Such a stipulation demands difficult decisions and sees some legendary names such as Graeme Souness, Emlyn Hughes and Tommy Smith miss out, whereas the likes of Djimi Traore, Lazar Markovic and Nabil El Zhar do make the cut.

Of course, plenty of towering figures from the club's past are included, but the nature of iconic shirt numbers means that they are often at the expense of those who are not far behind them in the pecking order.

The number seven shirt, for example, belongs to Sir Kenny Dalglish - a decision which is difficult to argue with but one which sees Kevin Keegan, Luis Suarez and Steve McManaman demoted to mere honourable mentions.

Number nine throws up an even more difficult choice, with record goalscorer Ian Rush pipping Robbie Fowler, Fernando Torres and Ian St John, while Souness and record appearance-maker Ian Callaghan are among the luminaries to miss out to Premier League icon Mohamed Salah for the number 11 spot.

The number four shirt has been bestowed upon some memorable defenders, with Virgil van Dijk the latest to follow in the footsteps of Sami Hyypia, Mark Lawrenson, Tommy Smith and Phil Thompson.

Hughes misses out on number six due to the presence of Alan Hansen, Roger Hunt is pipped to number eight by Steven Gerrard while John Barnes beats John Toshack, Michael Owen, Philippe Coutinho and Sadio Mane to number 10.

And yet, for every legendary figure to miss out, there is a much less illustrious name that makes it - Mario Balotelli, Fabio Borini and Jonjo Shelvey are among those included.

See below for our full list of Liverpool's best players by number, with other contenders in brackets.

Liverpool's greatest ever players by number

1. Ray Clemence (Bruce Grobbelaar, Tommy Lawrence, Alisson Becker)

2. Phil Neal (Chris Lawler, Gary Gillespie, Rob Jones, Stephane Henchoz, Joe Gomez)

3. Alan Kennedy (Gerry Byrne, Joey Jones, Steve Finnan, Fabinho)

4. Virgil van Dijk (Phil Thompson, Tommy Smith, Mark Lawrenson, Virgil van Dijk, Steve Nicol, Sami Hyypia, Geoff Strong)

5. Ron Yeats (Ray Kennedy, Ronnie Whelan, Larry Lloyd, Daniel Agger, Ibrahima Konate)

6. Alan Hansen (Emlyn Hughes, John Arne Riise)

7. Kenny Dalglish (Kevin Keegan, Luis Suarez, Steve McManaman, Peter Beardsley)

8. Steven Gerrard (Roger Hunt, Jimmy Case, Ray Houghton, Dominik Szoboszlai)

9. Ian Rush (Robbie Fowler, Fernando Torres, Ian St John, Roberto Firmino, David Johnson)

10. John Barnes (John Toshack, Michael Owen, Philippe Coutinho, Sadio Mane, Craig Johnston, Luis Garcia)

11. Mohamed Salah (Graeme Souness, Ian Callaghan, Steve McMahon, Jamie Redknapp)

12. Steve Heighway (Terry McDermott, Sammy Lee, John Aldridge, Peter Beardsley)

13. Danny Murphy (Karl-Heinz Riedle)

14. Jan Molby (Jordan Henderson, Xabi Alonso, Ray Houghton)

15. Daniel Sturridge (Patrik Berger, Peter Crouch)

16. Dietmar Hamann (Michael Thomas)

17. Steven Gerrard (Steve McManaman, Paul Ince, Curtis Jones)

18. Dirk Kuyt (John Arne Riise, Cody Gakpo)

19. Sadio Mane (Ryan Babel, Harvey Elliott)

20. Javier Mascherano (Diogo Jota, Stig-Inge Bjornebye, Adam Lallana, Nick Barmby)

21. Lucas Leiva (Gary McAllister, Dominic Matteo, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain)

22. Mohamed Sissoko (Simon Mignolet, Titi Camara)

23. Jamie Carragher (Emre Can, Xherdan Shaqiri)

24. Danny Murphy (Joe Allen, Florent Sinama-Pongolle)

25. Pepe Reina (Igor Biscan, David Thompson)

26. Andrew Robertson (Charlie Adam, Jay Spearing)

27. Divock Origi (Philipp Degen, Gregory Vignal)

28. Steven Gerrard (Stephen Warnock, Danny Ings)

29. Fabio Borini (Dominic Solanke)

30. Djimi Traore (Boudewijn Zenden)

31. Raheem Sterling (Nabil El Zhar, Frode Kippe)

32. Joel Matip (Stephen Darby)

33. Jonjo Shelvey (Neil Mellor, Jordon Ibe)

34. Martin Kelly (Adam Bogdan)

35. Kevin Stewart (Danny Guthrie)

36. Jon Otsemobor Nathan Ecclestone)

37. Martin Skrtel (Jari Litmanen)

38. Ryan Gravenberch (Jon Flanagan)

39. Craig Bellamy

40. Daniel Ayala (Ryan Kent)

41. Mark Smyth

42. Trey Nyoni (Nabil El Zhar)

43. Stefan Bajcetic 

44. Jordon Ibe (Brad Smith)

45. Mario Balotelli

46. Rhys Williams (Jordan Rossiter)

47. Andre Wisdom

48. Curtis Jones

49. Jack Robinson

50. Lazar Markovic

51. Ki-Jana Hoever

52. Danny Ward

53. Joao Carlos Teixeira

54. Sheyi Ojo

55. Herbie Kane

56. Connor Randall (Vitezslav Jaros) 

57. Rhian Brewster

58. Ben Woodburn

59. Harry Wilson

60. N/A 61. N/A

62. Caoimhin Kelleher

63. N/A

64. Rafael Camacho

65. N/A

66. Trent Alexander-Arnold

67. Harvey Elliott

68. Pedro Chirivella

69. Elijah Dixon-Bonner

70. Yasser Larouci

71. N/A

72. Sepp van den Berg

73. N/A 74. N/A

75. Luis Longstaff

76. Neco Williams

77. Morgan Boyes

78. N/A

79. N/A

80. Jake Cain

81. Jack Bearne

82. N/A 83. N/A

84. Leighton Clarkson

85. N/A 86. N/A 87. N/A 88. N/A 89. N/A 90. N/A 91. N/A 92. N/A

93. James Norris

94. N/A 95. N/A 96. N/A 97. N/A 98. N/A

99. Thomas Hill