Gianluigi Donnarumma will become the first player in Premier League history to ever where the No. 99 shirt after donning a set of digits close to his heart for Manchester City.
The former Paris Saint-Germain shot-stopper was officially unveiled as City’s final signing of the summer on Tuesday with a short video clip filmed at Italy’s training ground ahead of the international break.
Donnarumma is filling the void left by Ederson’s switch to Fenerbahçe but has not opted to take up the No. 31 he vacated. James Trafford started the season’s as Pep Guardiola’s first-choice goalkeeper and duly dons the No. 1 shirt which Donnarumma may have been expected to take. But he has a history with 99—even if the Premier League don’t.
Players in England’s top flight are entitled to wear any number between 1 and 99, yet no one had as high as 99. Liverpool right back Conor Bradley wore 84 last season while Donnarumma’s new Manchester City teammate Rico Lewis wears 82.
Why Gianluigi Donnarumma Has Chosen the Number 99 Shirt for Man City
When a 16-year-old Donnarumma made his senior debut for Milan he became the second-youngest goalkeeper ever to appear in Italian football—73 years to the day after the holder of that prestigious record, Giuseppe Sacchi. The prodigious teenager achieved that feat with 99 on his back, underscoring his junior status as they represented the year he was born: 1999.
Donnarumma had much of his youth dominated by his age. At youth team games, the prodigy’s mother got into the habit of his carrying his ID card to thrust in the face of accusatory parents. Those dissenting voices weren’t entirely out of the blue: by the age of 10, Donnarumma was already 6’0”.
Now 26 and 6’5”, City’s newest goalkeeper has 99 back on his shirt.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Gianluigi Donnarumma Chooses Unprecedented Premier League Shirt Number at Man City.