Decided: Irankunda picks shirt number of player keen to leave Sporting | OneFootball

Nestory Irankunda, a 20-year-old winger and Sporting's latest signing ahead of the 2026/27 season, already knows which number he will wear on his back. The Australian will wear the number 19 shirt, a squad number that brings back memories of a former player who wanted to leave Alvalade.

That player is Conrad Harder. The Dane arrived at Alvalade in the 2024/2025 season, in which he played 47 matches and recorded 11 goals and seven assists, helping the green and whites win the league title and the Portuguese Cup that season.

The Nordic international swapped the '19' shirt for the '9', which had belonged to Viktor Gyokeres, at the start of the following season, but ended up wearing it in only five official matches before moving to Leipzig. It is worth remembering that Harder forced his move to Germany.

His successor in 2025/26 was Diogo Travassos, but the full-back, now at Braga, was loaned to Moreirense that summer and never actually took the field with the '19' in official matches. Now, Irankunda wants to make history with this number.

The former Watford winger is already training under Rui Borges and could make his debut as early as next Saturday, the 22nd, in Sporting’s match in the third round of the Liga Portugal Betclic, at Alvalade, against Alverca. The match kicks off at 8:30 pm.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.