There will be something a little different about a very familiar figure when Ilkay Gundogan makes his second debut for Manchester City.
Pep Guardiola’s treble-winning captain completed his return to the Etihad Stadium on a free transfer from Barcelona on Friday and could feature in Saturday’s Premier League match against newly promoted Ipswich Town.
During his trophy-laden first spell at City, Gundogan wore the No. 8 jersey, but that is now in possession of Mateo Kovacic — a goalscorer and standout performer during last weekend’s 2-0 victory at Chelsea.
Two other numbers familiar to the 33-year-old were available. He wore 21 with Germany prior to his international retirement this week, while he was Barca’s No. 22 last term.
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However, the No. 19 vacated by Julian Alvarez after his big-money move to Atletico Madrid now falls into Gundogan’s hands — and there's a little bit of superstition at play.
“Obviously number 21 and 22 were free as well and I was last year 22 in Barcelona and I was 21 in the German national team, but I didn’t win any trophies with these numbers," the veteran playmaker told City's official website.
“So, I thought 'okay...' and number 19 is between 18 and 20, between my two friends Bernardo Silva and Stefan Ortega. So that might be a sign, you know, and I just went for it. So let’s see."
“It’s hopefully not the number that will have a big influence it will be the way I am playing the like the way I’m behaving and the way we will be as a team, and I can assure you that we will try our best to win a lot."
Gundogan's wife posted on Instagram to show her family had received a bouquet of flowers from the Silva family to welcome them back to Manchester.
