OLAREWAJU IBITOYE
Having signed for Real Madrid in May on a free transfer, David Alaba finally gets Sergio Ramos’ iconic jersey number 4 at his unveiling at Santiago Bernabeu.
David Alaba’s favourite jersey number 27 which was giving to him as a youth player at Bayern Munich is unavailable at the Spanish capital. This is due to the La Liga registration rules which state that first-team players have to take up numbers from 1 to 25.
The Austrian will also not be able to take his national team jersey number 8 which is currently occupied by a former teammate, Toni Kroos.
Alaba at his unveiling on Wednesday said it will be an “honour” to wear Ramos’ No. 4 jersey.
“Ramos has been here for a decade and became a leader wearing this number. That’s a big motivation for me and I want to represent it and honour it. I’ve said that on a few occasions. But I want to repeat that I am not here to compare myself with others. I want to show my strengths and continue to be David Alaba,” he said.
The Club’s President, Fiorentino Perez, Team coach, Carlo Ancelloti and his new teammate, Marcelo, were on the ground to welcome the new acquisition who can be seen beaming with smiles all through the presentation.