Ilkay Gundogan explains surprise new Man City shirt number decision

There will be something a little different about a very familiar figure when Ilkay Gundogan makes his second debut for Manchester City.

Pep Guardiola’s treble-winning captain completed his return to the Etihad Stadium on a free transfer from Barcelona on Friday and could feature in Saturday’s Premier League match against newly promoted Ipswich Town.

During his trophy-laden first spell at City, Gundogan wore the No. 8 jersey, but that is now in possession of Mateo Kovacic — a goalscorer and standout performer during last weekend’s 2-0 victory at Chelsea.

Two other numbers familiar to the 33-year-old were available. He wore 21 with Germany prior to his international retirement this week, while he was Barca’s No. 22 last term.

However, the No. 19 vacated by Julian Alvarez after his big-money move to Atletico Madrid now falls into Gundogan’s hands — and there's a little bit of superstition at play.

“Obviously number 21 and 22 were free as well and I was last year 22 in Barcelona and I was 21 in the German national team, but I didn’t win any trophies with these numbers," the veteran playmaker told City's official website.

“So, I thought 'okay...' and number 19 is between 18 and 20, between my two friends Bernardo Silva and Stefan Ortega. So that might be a sign, you know, and I just went for it. So let’s see."

“It’s hopefully not the number that will have a big influence it will be the way I am playing the like the way I’m behaving and the way we will be as a team, and I can assure you that we will try our best to win a lot."

Gundogan's wife posted on Instagram to show her family had received a bouquet of flowers from the Silva family to welcome them back to Manchester.