When André Onana joined Manchester United from Internazionale in the summer, there was quite a lot of talk around his decision to opt for number 24.
It seemed a bit over the top – Thibaut Courtois and Pepe Reina never wore number 1 for a club in England, for instance, while the first-choice goalkeeper for United’s WSL side, England international Mary Earps, has number 27 for the Red Devils.
The reaction can probably be boiled down to two things – (a) this is Manchester United Football Club we’re talking about and (b) unlike the cases of Courtois and Reina, the number 1 had just become free, following the departure of David de Gea.
Like so many explanations when it comes to football, superstition lies behind the answer.
Onana joined Ajax from Barcelona in January 2015 and was assumed the number 24 – which represents his birthday of April 2.
He served as back-up to Jasper Cillessen and playing for Jong Ajax in the second tier. After Cillessen played the first two games of 2016-17, he joined Barcelona and Onana was thrust into the first team.
Good performances led to him nailing down the starting spot and then, in the summer of 2017, he switched to number 1. However, it was a poor season for the club, finishing second to PSV – a 3-0 loss in Eindhoven in April proving crucial – while they failed to make the group stages of the Champions League or Europa League and were knocked out of the domestic cup at the last-16 stage.
The only thing for it was for Onana to move back to number 24 for 2018-19 – and so the 24-1-24 journey matches today’s date.
Ajax won the Dutch league and cup double and came within minutes of reaching the Champions League final, justifying the decision.
When he moved to Inter, 24 was free – the last player before Onana to wear it was Christian Eriksen – and good displays helped them to the Serie A title and a place in the Champions League final, losing out to Manchester City.
Then, after the move to Old Trafford, he again found his favoured digits free, with the United 24 last worn by Timothy Fosu-Mensah. The number 1 was eventually filled by United’s new back-up goalkeeper, Altay Bayındır, when he joined from Fenerbahçe.
