cant attach my phone number to imessage

I had an old Apple Account in 2016-2017. I switched over to samsung and didnt access it since 2017. Last year i bought an Ipad and tried to attach my phone number to it (its the same number I had in 2017 with that past apple account, i never changed my phone number just phones) the ipad said my number is still associated with an old apple ID account... i made a new apple ID since i wasnt able to access that old account THEN. since then i managed to contact apple, got into the OLD account and detatched my current number from it. its been 2 weeks since i disconnected my number from the old apple ID account and have tried to attach it to my current apple ID that i made. I contacted apple 3x and they cant seem to connect my phone number with this account even though its no longer connected with that old account. i called again and the number is no longer associated with ANY account but it still wont attach to my current account. help!