Special handshakes and footballers seemingly go hand in hand.
Players on the same team usually spend months together sharing the same locker room, hence it’s natural for a certain camaraderie to take shape.
This brotherhood often culminates in a special handshake, reserved for two friends on and off the pitch.
Considering the popularity of footballers it’s only natural that these handshakes are picked up by fans.
An example is Madrid duo Marcelo and Ronaldo’s conic celebration, which involved a quick slap of the hands before jumping into a “Siuuu”.
Other popular ones include the many handshakes Spurs star Son-Heung-min executes with his teammates.
And the many intricate hand-slapping manoeuvres of Man Utd pair Jesse Lingard and Paul Pogba.
Adding to the list is the special handshake fans witnessed yesterday between Romelu Lukaku and Kevin De Bruyne after Man City’s 1-0 win over Chelsea at the Etihad.
The Belgium internationals met up after the conclusion of the game right before heading to the tunnel.
— R🪁 (@Re7ceRevivaI) January 15, 2022
While it certainly wasn’t an occasion to celebrate for Lukaku, the pair executed the handshake apparently as a greeting before embracing.
It’s far from the first instance that the two have brought out the manoeuvre. In fact, they’ve been executing it since the 2014 World Cup, and since the gesture is nearly a decade old now, it might as well be a tradition.