Real Madrid's swift move for Arda Güler and the Turkish footballer's "yes" preceded the presentation of the now ex-Fenerbahçe player at the Santiago Bernabéu. A presentation that revealed the number with which the Ottoman player will play in this first campaign in Chamartín: 24. A number that deserves a special stop.
Each number has a history according to which team. In the case of the Real Madrid , the names of Raúl or Cristiano, from recent history, inevitably come to mind if we mention the '7'. Many numbers with history in a club where many great footballers have passed through. The last to land is Arda Güler , a boy from 18 years old and looking a little less. The Turk, another jewel to be polished by the white team, will take the number '24' . Only the '25' and '9' were free, but the regulations say that the '25' can only be used if the other numbers already have an owner. Vallejo was the '24' and has decided to change to '25'. He left the '24' free to Güler and only the '9' remains vacant.
It is obligatory to stop and choose the number '24'. A number that goes unnoticed in Spain, but that in other countries is even avoided. The case of Brazil is the strangest: for decades, the '24' in the Brazilian Selection was released. The country's media pointed to a relationship between number 24 and the sexual preferences of each person. Bremer broke the mold, daring to wear that number after it had been vacant for many years in the 'Canarinha'.
Returning to the case of Güler, within that mural of the white team's numbers and the intrinsic history that each of them has, the '24' acquires a special tone due to the difference in profiles that the players who have worn it have had. Some have been successful, others have passed by with a pass and, in some cases, it even takes on negative overtones. Jesús Vallejo , who finished last season wearing the number '5', decided to release it so that Bellingham could wear it when he arrived in Madrid. In that process, he changed to '24', although he has not worn it in official competition. Precisely, the '24' became vacant after the departure of Mariano Díaz , who elected him since 2019-20.
In that rotation of numbers, and more so when one is tall (to the liking of very few players), Dani Ceballos He wore it in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons after the '24' was released several seasons after the departure in 2015 of Asier Illarramendi , who did have that particular predilection for that number. The Basque footballer got it after he did it. Nacho , only in 2012-13. The youth-team player has also had to go through that natural dance of numbers in the first team of Real Madrid.
Lass Diarra was in charge of defending him in 2011-12 and 2012-13 after Sami Khedira He moved to '6' after 2010-11. The youth players Stephen Granero (2009-10), Javi Garcia (2008-09), Javi Balboa (2007-08) and Alvaro Mejia they had rotated it before. It is not usually a number that is liked, but Claude Makélélé He managed to get a lot of attention from the club between 2000-01 and 2003-04. The Frenchman, along with Lass Diarra, are perhaps the two players who have performed best with that number on their backs.
Aitor Karanka He also wore it in 1997-98, but the most entertaining stop, also the last one, deserves special recognition. Arda Güler will wear the '24' Álvaro Benito , who wore the same number during his time as a Real Madrid youth player in the 1990s and is now a commentator and most likely in charge of analysing the matches of Real Madrid's new Turkish signing, enjoyed the V-neck jersey.
