Matthijs de Ligt to grab dream Manchester United shirt number as announcement date set

Matthijs de Ligt will be able to grab his dream shirt number at Manchester United as his £38 million Old Trafford move is announced.

Ahead of Manchester United‘s Community Shield fixture against Manchester City on Saturday afternoon, it was revealed that Erik ten Hag‘s club had secured deals with Bayern Munich for defensive pairing Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui.

The Dutch centre-back and Moroccan right-back are due to sign for United next week in a double deal initially totalling around £50 million. Both players also have add-ons of £4.3 million attached to their respective transfers.

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Although United lost on penalties in the Community Shield, the club’s performance in the tie, combined with the pending transfer announcement, has given United fans hope for the coming campaign.

With any signing comes the anticipation of what number the new player will wear for their debut season. So far, the club have signed Joshua Zirkzee and handed him the famous No. 11 and given 18-year-old defensive prodigy Leny Yoro, who signed from Lille, the No. 15 shirt.

Matthijs de Ligt, bar his first season as a youngster at Ajax during the 2016/17 season, has always worn the same number and is set to receive this at Old Trafford, too.

When De Ligt first broke through Ajax’s ranks, he was handed the No. 36 shirt as a 16-year-old. He made his debut in September 2016 in a cup game against Willem II, where he scored from a corner 25 minutes into the tie. This made him the club’s second-youngest-ever goalscorer behind Clarence Seedorf.

After cementing himself in the squad, he was then handed the No. 4 jersey, which he has since worn at both Juventus and Bayern Munich and will almost certainly wear at Manchester United.

The No. 4 shirt, recently vacated by Sofyan Amrabat, is available at Old Trafford. With De Ligt the only other centre-back likely joining the club this summer and Amrabat’s return looking like slim pickings, it seems as if nothing is in his way to reclaim his treasured number at his new club.

Further, Fabrizio Romano has revealed that the club are planning to make the De Ligt and Marazoui deal official on Monday. They will want both players to join their new squad as soon as possible ahead of the Fulham fixture on Friday.

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