Donnarumma won’t play for Man City wearing number 99. Here’s why

Recently, Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma was unveiled as Manchester City’s latest signing. Fans eagerly awaited which shirt number he would take for the Citizens, only to discover it won’t be his usual number 99.

Details: According to talkSPORT, Donnarumma had to settle for number 25 due to Premier League regulations. Technically, players can choose any number between 1 and 99, but a host of restrictions apply:

• The rules are designed to preserve traditional numbers for certain positions (for example, No. 1 for goalkeepers, Nos. 2–5 for defenders);
• higher numbers are seen as inconvenient for fans, referees, and commentators;
• clubs find it easier to handle merchandising and marketing with standard numbers;
• historically, football is associated with classic squad numbering.

Reminder: Earlier, Manchester City winger Jérémy Doku stated that the reason for the team’s poor start was that his teammates give up too soon after conceding a goal, so the solution needs to be found in their mentality.