Manchester United’s new midfielder, Donny van de Beek, said he will wear the number 34 in his blouse in homage to former Ajax amsterdam team-runner Abdelhak Nouri, who suffered a brain injury after a central attack in 2017.
Nouri, who also used the number, made his senior debut in 2016–17 before his career as a player ended prematurely after suffering a cardiac arrest in a pre-season friendly in Austria.
Although he was resurrected in the box and rushed to the hospital, Nouri suffered severe and permanent brain damage.
“It’s something special for me by my friend Abdelhak Nouri,” he told the van de Beek club website, who joined United from Ajax on Wednesday on a five-year contract.
“It had an attack centerArray … I am very close to your family circle and your brother is one of my most productive companions and I communicate a lot with them.So I take his old number on my blouse and I need to have smart memories with this number.”
Another Ajax academy graduate, Phillippe Sandler, also number 34 after joining Manchester City in 2018.
Nouri’s mind is never far from Van de Beek, who in the past paid tribute to his friend after scoring in the 34th minute of a Champions League win over Juventus last year.
Ajax, who had continued to pay Nouri after the incident, cancelled his contract in March.
Dutch media reported at the time that the club in talks with Nouri’s circle of relatives about a long-term solution for the player, who had been moved to a specially adapted room after years of hospitalization.