Manchester City’s newly returned player, Ilkay Gundogan, explains his hidden reason why he chose the new shirt number (19) at Manchester City after his move from Barcelona

Recently, Ilkay Gundogan returned to Manchester City from Barcelona. He is a known face to fans of the club.

The German played for Man City from 2016 to 2023, seven years, until he became a free agent and signed a three-year deal with Barcelona.

But after only one year with the Spanish club, Gundogan signed a one-year deal with a chance for another one with Pep Guardiola’s team.

As soon as his return to City was confirmed, the 33-year-old player talked about one specific thing that has happened since he moved back to Manchester.

Gundogan talks about his new Manchester City shirt number

After it was reported that Gundogan would be wearing the number 19, he spoke to the club’s website about why he chose that number. In his first time at City, he wore the number 8.

“There was some thought behind it,” he said.

“Of course, numbers 21 and 22 were also free. I played as number 22 for Barcelona last year and as number 21 for the German national team, but I didn’t win any trophies with those numbers.

“Okay, I thought, and number 19 is between 18 and 20 for my friends Bernardo Silva and Stefan Ortega.”

“Well, I thought that might be a sign, so I went for it.” Let us look at this.

“I hope the number doesn’t matter too much; what matters is how I play, how I act, and how we work together as a team. I promise you that we will do our best to win a lot.”

Gundogan will want another good run at City.
Armed with a new jersey number, Gundogan expressed his excitement at the prospect of working with Guardiola once more.

Gundogan left City for Barcelona during the transfer window, and Mateo Kovacic joined the team in the same time as Gundogan did. Kovacic now wears the number eight shirt.

The German player won many awards and made 60 goals during his time at the club. He also set up 38 other goals.

He now knows why he chose the number 19, which Julian Alvarez wore before he joined Atletico Madrid earlier this month. Gundogan will now focus on having another great season with City.