Andre Onana has explained why he has chosen to wear the number 24 jersey at Manchester United, stating he picked it because it marks his date of birth.
Onana’s transfer to Man Utd was officially confirmed on 20th July, with the goalkeeper putting pen to paper on a five-year deal – the club retain an option for a further year – after the Red Devils agreed to pay £47.61m to Inter for his services.
With David de Gea giving up the number one jersey following the expiration of his contract at Old Trafford, Onana was expected to inherit the coveted number one however, rather surprisingly, the Cameroonian instead opted to select the number 24 at Old Trafford.
Explaining the decision to MUTV, Onana said: “I just like that number. It’s my birthday. My date of birth. For me it’s great, it’s beautiful.
“I like this shirt because [in] this shirt, this number we have done a lot and I hope it will continue.”
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Onana wore the number 24 jersey during his time at Inter, with Samir Handanovic having the number one jersey, and he also donned it at Ajax too. While in Eredivisie, Onana wore the jersey when he first arrived at the club and, following a disappointing single season wearing number one in 2017/18, he reverted back to his favoured jersey number the following campaign.
In his first interview as a Manchester United, Onana also discussed his style of play and his first impressions of training with his new teammates: “I’m very comfortable playing from the back, but it depends.
“I think the most important thing is to recognise the situation and that’s what I do myself, read the situation, especially what the team needs in certain moments.
“When we play, depending on who we play, sometimes you have the possession and sometimes not, so from there you have to be smart and try to help the team, because most of the time playing with these players is amazing.
“I had my first training session with them and it’s just amazing the quality here, it’s great.”
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