Romagnoli takes a legendary number at Milan

In the wake of signing Alessio Romagnoli from Roma, Milan finally announced their squad numbers for the upcoming season -- and their newest signing opened some eyes with the number he chose to wear.

Romagnoli has elected to wear 13 with the rossonero, a number which any Milan fan will know carries a lot of weight with the team. That's the number worn by Italian legend Alessandro Nesta, who spent a decade starring at Milan after starting his career at Lazio, tying the 13 shirt to his legacy forever with his incredible accomplishments on the back line.

Nesta is an icon in Italy, and by interviews he's given in the past, he was a personal hero for Romagnoli. Now the young defender positioned himself to try to live up to that incredible legacy by taking Nesta's number, setting an incredibly high level of expectations for himself by that choice. An Italian defender wearing 13 already demands a certain level of quality, but a young Italian defender at Milan will have to be incredible to live up to the number.

The fans were already going to ask a lot from Romagnoli after the high fee Milan paid for him -- now, seeing him wearing Nesta's legendary number 13, they're going to be asking even more. Hopefully he's up to the task -- if he can play up to Nesta's level, then Milan may have just made one of their best purchases ever.