"My grandfather was an Ajax fan, and he passed away on the 25th," Weghorst says. "At a certain point, I was texting my father about which number I should take, and we looked at the options together. I asked my father if grandpa had a favourite number, but he couldn’t remember."
"Later, I looked and saw that he passed away on the 25th. I eventually returned to England that evening and picked up my hotel key card. It had the number 25 on it. At that moment, I immediately thought: maybe this should be the one."
Wamberto: the first Ajax player to wear number 25
The first Ajacied to be assigned number 25 was the Brazilian Wamberto. In 1998, the winger transferred from Belgian side Standard de Liège. After a decent debut season with eight goals in 27 Eredivisie matches, he switched to number seven a year later.
Over the years, the number frequently changed hands, from Peter Hoekstra to Pius Ikedia, until Ajax signed Klaas Jan Huntelaar in the 2005/2006 season.
Huntelaar signed a 4.5-year contract with Ajax in the winter of the 2005/2006 season, and during his presentation, the then-coach Danny Blind handed him his new jersey. Although the top striker switched to number nine the following year, he always remembered number 25. When he signed with Schalke 04 in 2010, he was asked during his presentation in Germany how many goals he would score. "How many? You can tell from my shirt number," the striker replied.
The Dane Dolberg
After Huntelaar switched to number nine, Ajacieden like Gregory van der Wiel and Thulani Serero, wore number 25. Starting from the 2016/2017 season, Kasper Dolberg became the new owner. The Dane happily wore the number for three years before moving to French Nice. While at Ajax, Dolberg was named Talent of the Year and won a domestic double. In 2019, he helped his team win the Johan Cruijff Shield against PSV, scoring a goal within the first minute.
In the years that followed, the number once again changed hands frequently. The last Ajax player to wear number 25 was Borna Sosa. The left-back left for Torino on loan last month.
Now that Weghorst is the new owner of number 25, you can purchase the new Ajax shirt with free Weghorst printing.
