Andre Onana: Why Manchester United Goalkeeper Chose Number 24 Despite Vacant 1

• Manchester United confirmed the signing of Andre Onana from Inter Milan
• The Cameroonian goalkeeper will retain his number 24 jersey from his Ajax and Inter Milan days
• United's number 1 was left vacant after the departure of long-serving goalkeeper, David De Gea

Manchester United have confirmed the signing of Andre Onana from Inter Milan, and the goalkeeper will wear the number 24 jersey, leaving fans to wonder why he turned down the vacant number 1 shirt.

Onana finally joined United yesterday, ending weeks of speculation and back-and-forth negotiations over a fee with the Italian giants. He immediately jetted out to join the team in the United States.

He spent one season at the San Siro after joining last summer when he decided not to renew his contract at Ajax after six years with the Amsterdam club's first team.

According to The Athletic, the Cameroonian comes in to replace the departed Spanish goalkeeper as number 1. He cost the Red Devils a total package of €55m.

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Why Onana chose 24

Onana left fans confused as to why he chose to stick with his number 24 from his former clubs when number 1 was left vacant by De Gea's departure.

Utd District revealed that the former Samuel Eto'o academy star has used the number throughout his professional career as a reference to his date of birth - April 2.

He attempted to swap it for number 1 once, in the 2017/18 season at Ajax. It was disastrous: the team lost the league title and got knocked out of all cup competitions early.

He swapped back to his usual shirt for the 2018/19 season, and the team reclaimed glory under Erik ten Hag. They won the league and cup double and reached the UEFA Champions League semi-final.

"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," he told MUTV

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The former Barcelona Academy star wore number 23 for the national team, as it is the highest number allowed.

5 facts about Andre Onana

Sports Brief analysed five facts about Andre Onana, including playing under new boss Ten Hag at Ajax and clashing with the Dutch manager before he left Ajax for Inter Milan.

The goalie, who came through Samuel Etoo's academy in Cameroon, retired internationally after a feud with head coach, Rigobert Song at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.