July 3 (Reuters) - Arsenal fans who purchased 2018-19replica jerseys with Mesut Ozil's name and squad number will begiven free replacements after the midfielder switched to thenumber 10 shirt made available by the departure of JackWilshere.

Ozil has worn number 11 since joining the London club in2013 but wasted little time in pouncing on what he described asa "special number" after midfielder Wilshere's contract was notrenewed after the end of last season.

"My childhood idol Zinedine Zidane wore this number and it'sstill the most characteristic one for the playmaker position,"Ozil told the club's website https://www.arsenal.com/news/ozil-our-no-10 . "I'm looking forward to putting it on for the first time atArsenal after the summer break."

(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru, editing by EdOsmond) ((Shrivathsa.Sridhar@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging:shrivathsa.sridhar.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))