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A fortune teller who knew the mother of Nicklas Bendtner was the reason behind his switch from No 26 to a frankly nonsensical No 52 at Arsenal.
The Danish forward, who is a regular with absurd football antics, took the No 26 shirt at the Emirates in 2007 when he returned from a season-long loan at Birmingham City.
But after two years, 90 appearances and 23 goals, he decided at the last minute to double his shirt number.
Some Arsenal fans had jokingly said that the change could be because then-manager Arsène Wenger had asked for twice the effort from him this season, hence changing from 26 to 52, but the real reason is something extraordinary.
Writing in his new autobiography, "Both Sides", Bendtner revealed:
I switch from the No 26 jersey to No 52 jersey because of a professional fortune-teller my mum knows. Or a clairvoyant, as she calls herself.
She thinks 26 is a s*** number for me, because 2 + 6 = 8, which is my so-called 'bad number'. She's found this out... somehow.
According to the friend, 7 is my lucky number. My strength number. Unfortunately, 7 is already taken. And 25 (2 + 5 = 7) was Adebayor's, which means it's all tied up with bad karma.
We settle for 52 in the end. When it's made official, everyone thinks it's a hint about my new wages: £52,000 a week.
After making the switch to No 52, Bendtner managed 21 goals in 64 appearances.
