Vermaelen to wear No. 15 this season

The Belgian takes the shirt number that was previously worn by Miralem Pjanic. Since shirt numbers were introduced for the 1995-96 season, the No. 15 has been worn by the likes of Alessio Scarchilli and Luigi Di Biagio.

During the title-winning campaign of 2000-01, the French defender Jonathan Zebina wore the shirt number - before Olivier Dacourt took it for his three seasons at the club.

For Vermaelen it is a familiar number: it is the one he wore in 2005-06, the year he returned to Ajax after a loan spell at RKC Waalwijk.

In his two seasons at Barcelona he wore No. 23.