Donny van de Beek to Ask for Number 34 at Man Utd & Other Shirt Options
Donny van de Beek has been tipped to ask for the number 34 shirt when he completes his impending transfer to Manchester United, as a tribute to close friend and former Ajax teammate Abdelhak Nouri, who collapsed during a pre-season game in 2017.
Van de Beek rose through the Ajax youth ranks with Nouri, who suffered permanent brain damage after his collapse, brought on by cardiac arrhythmia – Van de Beek himself was playing that day against Werder Bremen ahead of his first full season in the first team.
Nouri, known to his friends and family as Appie, only left hospital to be cared for by his family at home earlier this year. He and Van de Beek were particularly close, and the Daily Mail notes that the latter is still in daily contact with the Nouri family.
He has therefore been tipped to request the number 34 shirt when he arrives at Old Trafford to honour Nouri, who wore those digits for Ajax prior to his career being tragically cut short.
It has not been uncommon for players leaving Ajax in recent years to ask for number 34 at their new club to pay their respects to Nouri. Former youth international colleagues have also done similar.
Amin Younes and Joel Veltman wear number 34 for Napoli and Brighton respectively, having played with Nouri at Ajax, while Justin Kluivert also wore 34 in his first season at Roma.
United’s number 34 shirt is currently available and hasn’t been occupied since Dean Henderson was assigned it during the 2016/17 season. The emerging goalkeeper hasn’t yet been assigned a new shirt since returning to the club from back-to-back loans at Sheffield United.
Van de Beek has worn the number six shirt for Ajax ever since becoming a first-team regular in 2017, although that jersey is obviously already taken by Paul Pogba at Old Trafford.
If, for whatever reason, he does not wear 34, a handful of other shirts are potentially available to him. Number seven and 11 are vacant, although it is likely they will be taken in the future by forwards – there is talk of seven being saved for Jadon Sancho – while it wouldn’t be a shock to see teenage sensation Mason Greenwood trade in his current 26 shirt for 11.
Number 16 is a number long associated with top United midfielders, having been worn with distinction in the Premier League by Roy Keane and Michael Carrick. Marcos Rojo currently has it, although the Argentine has no future at Old Trafford and is unlikely to keep hold of it.
Numbers 14 and 15 are likely to become available assuming the club can find buyers for Jesse Lingard and Andreas Pereira, while number 19 has been vacant since 2018.
At international level, Van de Beek has worn a variety of shirts for the Netherlands at senior level, including six, seven, 16, 17 and 18. More recently, he has forged a more regular attachment to 20.
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