Why Andre Onana will wear number 24 at Manchester United ...

Manchester United finally secured their David de Gea replacement on Thursday when they officially announced Andre Onana's capture from Inter Milan.

Onana has joined on a contract until 2028 for an initial fee of £47m. The Cameroonian was pictured at Manchester Airport yesterday as he flew out to join his new teammates on their summer tour of the United States.

As is traditional for goalkeepers, De Gea wore the No.1 shirt at Old Trafford as he was the first choice. However, there was some surprise when Onana decided he would take the No.24 jersey instead.

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ALSO READ: Ten Hag explains why he signed Onana

While he had taken this number previously, Onana has also worn the No.1 before at Ajax when it was available. But this had not been the case since the 2017/18 season.

With some mystery surrounding the decision, MEN Sport has taken a look at why Onana is more drawn to the No.24 shirt.

Onana first wore the No.24 shirt when he initially joined Ajax from Barcelona in 2015. At this time, Jasper Cillessen was the first choice at the Amsterdam club and thus was wearing the No.1 shirt.

Looking for an alternative, Onana seemed to gain inspiration from his birthday which is April 2 or 2/4 for his new squad number. While he has not confirmed this as being the exact reason for the preferred number, it would be a huge coincidence if not.

In the one season he reverted to the No.1 jersey, Onana kept just 12 clean sheets instead of the previous season's 21. This perhaps pushed him to change back to No.24 which would also bring about a change in form as he went on to keep 26 clean sheets.

Football being a very superstitious sport, Onana has not worn the No.1 since.

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