Super Eagles Defender Explains Why He Picked The Number 5 Shirt At Udinese

William Troost-Ekong has explained why he picked the number five shirt at Udinese after joining the Italian club on a four-year contract in the summer transfer window.

The central defender wore the number 16, 15, 12 and 5 during his time with the youth team of Tottenham Hotspur and played with the number four kit at FC Groningen.

At Dutch club FC Dordrecht, Ekong was allocated the number seventeen and four shirts for the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons respectively, at FK Haugesund number 5, KAA Gent number 4 and wore the number 5 shirt in his final year at Bursaspor.

The Super Eagles star says his decision to take the number five shirt at Udinese stems from the fact that he usually plays with that number with the Nigeria National Team.

Ekong said to fantagazzetta.com : ''It's my national number and I wanted to take it. I know that Danilo was an important player here, as well as captain. I do not feel responsible for having to replace him."

Asked his thoughts on tomorrow's Serie match against Torino, Ekong pinpointed Andrea Belotti as the most dangerous player in the side, saying : ''I would probably say Belotti. He is a very intelligent player, who knows how to find the right position on the field to hurt the defense.

''It is always difficult to play against such players, but we will do our best to stop him ".

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

Photo Credit : udinese.it