Paquetá to wear Flamengo’s number 20 shirt as tribute to Vini Jr. | OneFootball

Flamengo announced this Thursday that Lucas Paquetá, the club’s main signing for the season, will wear the number 20 jersey. The number was also worn by Vinícius Júnior between 2017 and 2018.

The midfielder revealed that his choice is a tribute to his friend Vinícius Júnior, although he hasn’t told the Real Madrid forward.

“20. (It’s a tribute) to Vini, right? I’m going to take Vini’s number, but I won’t tell him. But he already knows, right? I was checking which (numbers) were available and I like 20 as well. Since he already played with it, I thought ‘ah, I’ll take 20’. He’ll know it’s because of him,” said Paquetá in an interview with Flamengo TV.

Packed Reception

As is tradition at Flamengo, many fans were at Galeão Airport this Thursday for the traditional “AeroFla” to welcome back the Gávea academy product, who returns to the club seven years after leaving for Europe.

In his first interview after the official announcement, Paquetá told Flamengo TV that he had dreamed a lot about this moment and highlighted his happiness at coming home. The midfielder did not hide his excitement to get on the pitch alongside his teammates. “Maybe Flamengo didn’t need me, but I need Flamengo,” he added.

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Anticipation for the Debut

After the reception, Flamengo is working to regularize Lucas Paquetá’s situation for the Supercopa do Brasil. The Rubro-Negro faces Corinthians this Sunday at 4 p.m. (Brasília time), at Mané Garrincha.

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