Manchester United have announced the signing of Youri Tielemans from Aston Villa, who will wear the same shirt number previously worn by Casemiro, Bruno Fernandes and Paul Scholes.
Youri Tielemans completes his move to Manchester United (Image: Manchester United, Getty Images)
Youri Tielemans will wear No. 18 at Manchester United after completing his move to Old Trafford, taking over the number vacated by Casemiro.
The Brazilian has just left the club after his contract expired, leaving behind the number that has been worn by many of United’s modern-day greats.
United activated the £35 million release clause in Tielemans’ Aston Villa contract, signing a player who has been a consistent performer over many years. The Belgian scored in Villa’s recent Europa League final, which was his penultimate game.
Tielemans, who wore No. 8 at Leicester and Villa, will now wear No. 18 at Manchester’s red side, which is looking to address a gap in midfield.
Casemiro is the Red Devils’ previous holder of number 18. Before the former Real Madrid star wore the number, captain Bruno Fernandes wore it before switching to his preferred number eight. Paul Scholes also wore this number.
Commenting on his decision to transfer, Tielemans said: “Words cannot express how proud I am to be joining Manchester United. It is an incredible feeling to sign for such a special club. This is the culmination of many years of dedication since I first fell in love with football.”
“I have had the privilege of experiencing success in the game and it has made me even more determined to achieve even more. The ambitions of everyone at the club are very clear and we are all determined to push for the biggest trophies in the coming years.”
Paul Scholes wore number 18 in Manchester (Image: Press Association)
United moved to sign Tielemans after signing Ederson earlier this week. An agreement had been reached to sign the Atalanta midfielder, but the transfer was later decided. In addition to Belgian Michael Carrick, they also acquired Andrej Santos from Chelsea in a £50m deal.
Director of Football Jason Wilcox said of the latest results: “Yuri has consistently been one of the Premier League’s most outstanding midfielders over the past seven years.”
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