Manchester United's latest big-money signing Donny van de Beek has selected shirt number 34 in tribute of his former teammate Abdelhak Nouri.
Van de Beek and Nouri progressed through the AFC Ajax academy along with FC Barcelona star Frenkie de Jong, with Nouri touted as the most promising of the midfield trio.
But Nouri's career came to a heartbreaking end during a pre-season game in 2017 when he suffered a cardiac arrhythmia attack and collapsed on the field.
After being revived and immediately airlifted to a nearby hospital he was confirmed to have severe brain damage, leaving him in a vegetative state and two years later he woke up from a coma.
Bafana-eligible defender Philippe Sandler also selected the same number when he joined Manchester City as well as Justin Kluivert who moved on to AS Roma in tribute of 'Appie'.
And United's new star has explained why he continued the trend after completing a €40-million transfer to the Red Devils.
"This is a special thing for me because my good friend Abdelhak Nouri… maybe you know the story, he had a heart attack and he's a good friend of mine," Van de Beek said.
"I'm really close with his family and his brother is one of my best friends and I talk a lot with them. So I decided to take his old number on my shirt and I want to get good memories with this number."